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3  3433  06823603  7 


MRS.S.  V.V.  HUNTING 
15  JUNK  iJlJ 


THE 


WORKS 


OF    THE 


REV.  ANDREW  FULLER, 


IN  EIGHT  VOLUMES. 


VOL.  111. 


jXEW-IUVEN  : 


rRINT£I>   AflD   PUBLISHED    BY    S.    CONVERSK. 


1824 


■•':',JCUBRARYj 

^dTor^  ..ewox  and       I 

riL06N  FOUNDATIONS.      I 

«  1910  ^  I 


THE 


GOSPEL  ITS  OWN  WITNESS ; 


THE  HOLY  NATURE  AND   DIVINE  HARMONY 


CHRISTIAJS  RELIGIOJV^ 


CONTRASTED     WITH 


THE  LMMORALITY  AND  ABSURDITY 


DEISM. 


Laying  his  hand  on  the  Bihlft,  he  woiiM  say,  "  Tliere  is  true  philosophy. 
This  is  ihe  wisdom  that  speaks  to  the  heart.  A  bail  life  is  tlie  only  grand  ob- 
jection to  this  Book."  Earl  of  Rochester. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface,        ....--.--.-  7 

fntroduotioa,      --.--..--..9 

PART  THE  FIRST  ; 

In  ■which  the  Holy  Nature  of  the  Christian  Religion  i$  contrasted 
with  the  Immjrality  of  Deism. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Christianity  reveals  a  God,  glorious  in  Holiness  :  but  Deism,  thoug^h   it 
acknowledges  a  God,  yet  denies  or  overluoks  his  Moral  Character,        17 

CHAPTER  n. 
Christianity  teaches  us  to  acknowledge  God,  and  to  devote  ourselves  to 
bis  Service  ;  but  Oeism,  though  it  confesses  one  Supreme  Being,  yet 
refuses  to  worship  him,        -----...23 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Christian  Standard  of  Morality  is  enlarged,  and  free  from  Tmpurity; 
bat  Deism  conlines  our  obligations  to  those  Duties  which  respect  our 
own  Species,  and  greatly  palliates  Vice  with  regard  to  a  breach  even 

ofth^^m, 39 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Christianity  furnishes  Motives  to  a  virtuous  Life  ;  which  Deism  either  re- 
jects, or  attempts  to  undermine,     ......        .41 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Lives  of  those  who  reject  the  Gospel  will  not  bear  a  Compariaon  with 

theirs  who  embrace  it,         -..--.-_      53 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Christianity  has  not  only  produced  good  Effect^  in  those  who  cordially 
believe  it,  but  has  given  to  the  Moral?  of  Society  a  Tone  which  De- 
ism, so  far  as  it  operates,  goes  to  counteract,         -        -        -        -        73 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Christianity  is  a  Source  of  Happiness  both  to  Individuals  and  Society : 
but  DeiuB  Uavei  both  «bs  and  the  oiher  without  Hope,        •        •      93 


Q  CONTENTS. 

PART  THE  SECOND  ; 

In  which  the  Harmony  of  the  Christian  Religion  is  considered  as 
Evidence  of  its  Divinity. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Harmony  of  Scripture  with  Historic  Fact,  evinced  by  the  fulfilment 

of  Prophecy,         .--_--.---     HI 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Harmony  of  Scripture  with  Truth,  evinced  from  it»  agreement  with 
the  Dictates  of  an  Enlightened  Conscience,  and  the  result  of  the  clos- 
est Observali  jn,        .-.---...         121 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Harmony  of  Scripture  with  its  own  Professions,  argued  from  the 

Spirit  and  Style  in  which  it  is  written,  -----     131 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Consistency  of  the  Christian  Doctrine,  particularly  that  of  Salva- 
tion through  a  Mediator,  with  sober  Reason.         -        -         -        -     143 
CHAPTER  V. 

The  Consistency  of  the  Scripture  Doctrine  of  Redemption  with  the  mod- 
ern opinion  of  the  Magnitude  of  Creation,        -         _        -         .  161 

CONCLUDING  ADDRESSES. 

To  Deists, 183 

To  the  Jews -192 

To  Christians, -        ;                -  196 


PREFACE. 


i  HE  stnijjgle  between  religion  and  iircli/ion  hn<;  existed  in  the 
woritl  in  :ill  ;is»;t'S  ;  and  if" there  be  two  opposite  iiiteii  «ts  w.iir.h  di- 
vide its  inl)al)it;ints,  the  kinirdom  ofrintan  and  the  kin^^iloni  ot'God, 
it  i-  reaso' ahici  to  expect  that  the  contest  will  continue  idl  one  of 
theuj  be  exterminated.  The  peacelul  nature  of  Christianity  di>c8 
not  re«]uire  that  we.  should  m  ike  peace  with  its  adversaries,  cease 
to  repel  their  :.tlyi  k«,  or  even  tliat  we  should  act  merel)'  on  the  de- 
fensive.  On  ih»-  contrary,  we  are  r.miiied  (o  make  use  of  those 
VMjapons  of  the  divine  warfire  with  wli.cli  ue  aro  furnished,  for 
the  pulling  down  of  strono;  holds,  casting  down  im.;gin,ilions,  md 
every  hi:;h  thing  th  it  exdteih  itself  against  the  kiiorvled-:e  of  (Jod, 
an<l  britigfth  into  ca[)!ivity  every  thougiit  to  the  obedieiice  of 
Christ. 

The  opposition  of  the  present  age  has  not  been  coi>fi;,ed  to  the 
less  important  points  of  Chri>lianity,  nor  even  to  its  tirst  princi- 
ples :  Christianity  itself  is  treated  as  imposture.  I'h'i  same 
things,  it  is  true,  have  been  frequently  advanced,  and  as  ficcpient- 
ly  repelled,  in  former  ages;  but  the  adversaries  of  the  gospel  of 
late,  encouraged  it  should  seem  by  the  temper  ot  the  times,  hu'e 
renewed  the  attack  with  redoubled  vigour.  One  of  their  most 
popul.ir  writers,  hoping  to  av.iil  himself  of  this  circumstance,  is 
pleased  to  entitle  his  performance  The  Jige  of  Rcafion.  This  wri- 
ter is  aware  th.it  flatterry  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  means  of 
gaining  admission  to  the  human  mind  ;  such  a  coinplimenl,  there- 
fore, to  the  present  age,  was  doubtless  considered  as  a  m  ister- 
stroke  of  policy.  Nor  is  Mr.  Paine  less  oblii;in<i  to  himself  ihm  to 
his  readers,  but  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  cause  for  whirli  he 
pleads  is  that  of  reason  and  truth.  The  consideivite  reader,  how- 
ever, may  remark,  tliat  those  writers  who  are  not  ashamed  to  i>eg 
the  question  in  the  title  page,  are  seldom  the  most  liberal  or  im- 
partial in  the  execution  of  the  work. 

One  thing  which  has  contributed  to  the  advantage  of  Intidolify 
is,  the  height  to  which  political  disputes  have  arisen,  and  the  de- 
gree in  which  they  have  interested  the  passions  and  prejudices  of 
mankind.  Those  who  favour  tbe  sentiments  of  a  set  of  men  ia 
one  thing,  will  be  in  danger  of  thinking  fivourably  of  th^m  in  oth- 
ers ;  a!  I(;ast  thoy  will  not  be  apt  to  view  them  in  so  ill  i  Ii^iit  as 
if  they  h.id  been  advanced  by  persons  of  different  senti  lent  in  other 
things,  as  well  as  in  religion.     It   is   true,  there  may  be  nothing 


8  PREFACE. 

more  friendly  to  infidelity  in  the  nature  of  one  political  system 
than  another  ;  nothing  that  can  justify  professing  Christians  in  ac- 
cusing one  another,  merely  on  account  of  a  diflerence  of  this  kind, 
of  favouring  the  interests  of  Atheism  and  irreligion  :  nevertheless 
it  becomes  those  who  think  favourably  of  the  political  principles 
of  Infidels  to  take  heed  lest  they  be  insensibly  drawn  away  to 
think  lightly  of  religion.  All  the  nations  of  the  earth  and  all 
disputes  on  the  best  or  worst  mode  of  government,  compared  with 
this  are  less  than  nothing  and  vanity. 

To  this  it  may  be  added,  that  the  eagerness  with  which  men  en- 
gage in  political  disputes,  take  which  side  we  may,  is  unfavoura-, 
ble  to  a  zealous  adherence  to  the  gospel.  Any  mere  worldly  ob- 
ject, if  it  become  the  principal  thing  which  occupies  our  thoughts 
and  affections,  will  weaken  our  attachment  to  religion  ;  and  if  once 
we  become  cool  and  indifferent  to  this,  we  are  in  the  high-road  to 
Infidelity.  There  are  cases,  no  doubt,  relating  to  civil  govern- 
ment, in  which  it  is  our  duty  to  act,  and  that  with  firmness  :  but  to 
make  such  things  the  chief  object  of  our  attention,  or  the  principal 
topic  of  our  conversation,  is  both  sinful  and  injurious.  Many  a 
promising  character  in  the  religious  world  has,  by  these  things, 
been  utterely  ruined. 

The  writer  of  the  following  pages  is  not  induced  to  offer  them 
to  the  public  eye  from  an  apprehension  that  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  in  danger.  Neither  the  downfall  of  Popery,  nor  the  triumph  of 
infidels,  as  though  they  had  hereby  overturned  Christianity,  have 
fevpr  been  to  him  the  cause  of  a  moment's  uneasiness.  If  Christi- 
anity be  of  God,  as  he  verily  believes  it  to  to  be,  they  cannot  over- 
throw it.  He  must  be  possessed  of  but  liftle  faith  who  can  trem- 
ble, though  in  a  storm,  for  the  safety  of  the  vessel  which  contains 
his  Lord  and  Master.  There  would  be  one  argument  less  for  the 
divinity  of  the  scriptures,  if  the  same  powers  which  gave  existence 
to  the  Anti-christian  dominion  had  not  been  employed  in  taking  it 
away.*  But  though  truth  has  nothing  to  fear,  it  does  not  follow 
that  its  friends  should  be  inactive  ;  if  we  should  have  no  appre- 
hensions for  the  safety  of  Christianity,  we  may,  nevertheless, 
feel  for  the  rising  generation.  The  Lord  confers  an  honour  upon 
his  servants  in  condescending  to  make  use  of  their  humble  efforts  in 
preserving  and  promoting  his  interest  in  the  world.  If  the  pres- 
ent attempt  may  be  thus  accepted  and  honoured  by  Him  to  whose 
name  it  is  sincerely  dedicated,  the  writerwill  recei  ve  a  rich  reward. 
Kettering,  Oct.  10,  1799. 

*  The  powurs  of  Europe,  sisjiiified  by  the  ten  horns,  or  kinsjs,  into  which 
the  Roman  empire  should  be  divided,  were  to  give  their  kingdoms  to  the 
beast.  They  did  so:  and  France  particularly  took  the  lead.  The  same 
powers,  it  is  predicted,  shall  hate  the  whore,  and  burn  her  flesh  with  fire. 
'J'hey  have  be^un  to  do  so  :  and  in  this  business  also  France  has  taken  the 
lead.     Rev.  xvii.  12.  13.  16—18. 


INTRODUCTION. 


1  HE  controversies  between  believers  and  unbelievers  are  con- 
fined to  a  narrower  ground  than  tiiose  of  professed  believers  with 
one  another.  Scripture  testimony,  any  farther  than  as  it  bears  the 
character  of  truth,  and  approves  itself  to  the  conscience,  or  is  pro- 
duced for  the  purpose  of  explaining  the  nature  of  genuine  Chris- 
tianity, is  here  out  of  the  question.  Reason  is  the  common  ground 
on  which  they  must  meet  to  decide  their  contests.  On  this  ground 
Christian  writers  have  succes^ifully  closed  with  their  antagonists  r 
so  much  so,  that  of  late  ages,  notwithstanding  all  their  boast  of  rea- 
son, not  one  in  ten  of  them  can  be  kept  to  the  fair  and  honoura- 
ble use  of  this  weapon.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  driven  to  sub- 
stitute dark  insinuation,  low  wit,  profane  ridicule,  and  gross  abuse. 
Such  were  the  weapons  of  Shaftesbury,  Tindal,  Morgan,  Boling- 
broke,  Voltaire,  Hume,  and  Gibbon  :  and  such  are  the  weapons 
of  the  author  of  the  Age  of  Reason.  Among  various  well-written 
performances,  in  answer  to  thoir  several  productions,  the  reader 
may  see  a  concise  and  able  refutation  of  the  greater  part  of  them 
in  LektiuVs  Rcvieza  of  (he  Deist  ical  Writers. 

It  is  not  my  design  to  go  over  the  various  topics  usually  discus- 
sed in  this  controversy,  but  to  select  a  single  one,  which,  I  con- 
ceive, has  not  been  so  fully  attended  to,  but  that  it  may  yet  be 
considered  with  advantage.  The  internal  evidence  which  Chris- 
tianity possesses,  particularly  in  respect  of  its  holy  nature  and  di- 
vine harmony,  will  be  the  subject  of  the  present  inquiry. 

Vol.   U\.  » 


]U  INTRODUCTION. 

Mr.  Fame,  after  the  example  of  many  others,  endeavours  to 
t'liscredit  the  scriptures  by  representing  the  number  of  hands 
through  which  they  have  passed,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  his- 
torical evidence  b}'  which  they  are  supported.  "It  is  a  matter 
altogether  of  uncertainty  to  us,"  he  says,  "  whether  such  of  the 
writings  as  now  appear  under  the  names  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament, are  in  the  same  state  in  which  those  collectors  say  they 
found  them  ;  or  whether  they  added,  altered,  abridged,  or  dres- 
sed them  up."*  It  is  a  good  work  which  many  writers  have  un- 
dertaken, to  prove  the  validity  of  the  Christian  history  ;  and  to 
show  that  we  have  as  good  evidence  for  the  truth  of  the  great  facts 
which  it  relates  as  we  have  for  the  truth  of  any  ancient  events 
whatever.!  But  if,  in  addition  to  this,  it  can  be  proved  that  the 
scriptures  contain  internal  characteristics  of  divinity,  or  that  they 
carry  in  them  the  evidence  of  their  authenticity,  this  will  at  once 
answer  all  objections  from  the  Supposed  uncertainty  of  historical 
evidence. 

Historians  inform  us  of  a  certain  valuable  medicine,  called  Mi- 
thridate,  an  antidote  to  poison.  It  is  said  to  have  been  "  invent- 
ed by  Mithridates,  king  of  Pontus  ;  that  the  receipt  of  it  was  found 
in  a  cabinet,  written  with  his  own  had,  and  was  carried  to  Rome 
by  Pompey  ;  that  it  was  translated  into  verse  by  Democrates,  a 
famous  physician  ;  and  that  it  was  afterwaads  translated  by  Galen, 
from  whom  we  have  it."J  Now  supposing  this  medicine  to  be 
efficacious  for  the  professed  purpose,  of  what  account  would  it  be 
to  object  to  the  authenticity  of  its  history  ?  If  a  modern  caviller 
should  take  it  into  his  head  to  allege  that  the  preparation  has  pas- 
sed through  so  many  hands,  and  that  there  is  so  much  hearsay  and 
uncertainty  attending  it,  that  no  dependence  can  be  placed  upon  it, 
and  that  it  had  better  be  rejected  from  our  Materia  Medica  ;  he 
would  be  asked,  Has  it  not  been  tried,  and  been  found  to  he  effectual ; 
and  that  in  a  great  variety  of  instances?  Such  are  Mr.  Paine's 
objections  to  the  Bible  ;  and  such  is  the  answer  that  may  be  given 
him. 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  pp.  10,  11.  t  Lardner,  Simpson,  and  others. 

{:  Chambers's  Dictionary,  Art.Mithridate'. 


INTRODUCTION. 


11 


i'his  langiiJige  is  not  confined  to  inndel  wr'ilcrs.  Mr.  Locke 
speaks  of  what  he  calls  "  traditional  revelation,"  or  revelation  a? 
we  have  it,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  convey  the  idea,  that  we  have 
no  evidence  of  the  scriptures  being  the  word  of  God,  but  from  a 
succession  of  witnesses  having  told  us  so.*  But  1  conceive  these 
sacred  writings  mny  contain  such  intertud  evidence  of  their  being 
what  they  profess  to  be,  as  that  it  might,  with  equal  reason,  be 
doubted  whether  the  world  was  created  by  the  power  of  God,  as 
whether  they  were  written  by  the  inspiration  of  his  Spirit  :  and  if 
so,  our  dependence  is  not  ujton  mere  tradition. 

It  is  true,  the  scriptures  having  been  conveyed  to  us  through 
the  medium  of  man,  the  work  must  necessarily,  in  some  respects, 
have  been  humani/ed  ;  yet  there  may  be  sufficient  marks  of  divin- 
ity upon  it,  to  render  it  evident  to  every  candid  mind  that  it  is  of 
God. 

We  mijy  call  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation  a  tradition,  and 
may  be  said  to  know  through  this  medium  that  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  are  the  productions  of  divine  power.  But  it  is  not  through 
this  medium  only  that  we  know  it  :  the  heavens  aiyl  the  earth  car- 
ry ia  them  evident  marks  of  their  divine  original.  These  works 
of  the  Almighty  speak  for  themselves  ;  and  in  language  which 
none  but  those  who  are  willfully  deaf  can  misunderstand  :  Their 
sound  is  gone  forth  throughout  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the 
end  of  the  xcorld.  Were  any  man  to  pretend  that  its  being  a  mat- 
ter oi  revelation,  and  to  us  merely  traditionni  revelation,  that  God 
made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  therefore  that  a  degree  of 
uncertainty  must  necessarily  attend  it  ;  he  would  be  reminded 
that  the  thing  itself  carried  in  it  its  own  evidence.  Let  it  be  can- 
didly considered  whether  the  same  may  not  be  said  of  the  holy 
•icriptures.  They  will  admit  of  historical  defence  ;  but  they  do 
not  require  it.  Their  contents,  come  through  whose  hands  they 
may,  prove  them  to  be  of  God.  It  was  on  this  principle  that  the 
gospel  was  proclaimed  in  the  form  of  a  tcstimomj.  The  primitive 
preachers  were  not  required  by  him  who  sent  them  to  prove  their 
doctrine  in  the  manner  that  philosophers  were  wont  to  establish  a 

*  Human  Understanding,  Book  IV.  Chap.  XVIII. 


12  INTRODUC'l'lON. 

proposition  ;  but  to  declare  the  counsel  of  God,  and  leave  it.  In 
delivering  their  message,  they  commended  themselves  to  every  man's 
conscience  in  the  sight  of  God. 

It  is  no  objection  to  this  statement  of  things  that  the  scriptures 
are  not  embraced  by  every  man,  whatever  be  the  disposition  of 
his  mind  This  is  a  property  that  no  divine  production  whatever 
possesses;  and  to  require  it  is  equally  unreasonable,  as  to  insist 
that  for  a  book  to  be  perfectly  legible  it  must  be  capable  of 
being  read  by  those  who  shut  their  eyes  upon  it.  Mr.  Paine 
holds  up  the  advantages  of  the  book  of  nature  in  order  to  dis- 
parage that  of  scripture,  and  says.  "  No  Deist  can  doubt 
whether  the  works  of  nature  be  God's  works."  An  admira- 
ble proof  this  that  we  have  arrived  at  the  age  of  reason  !  Can 
no  Atheist  doubt  it  ?  I  might  as  well  say,  No  Christian  doubts  the 
truth  of  the  scriptures  :  the  one  proves  just  as  much  as  the  oth- 
er. A  prejudiced  mind  discerns  nothing  of  divine  beauty,  either 
in  nature  or  scripture  ;  yet  each  may  include  the  most  indubitable 
e-vidence  of  being  wrought  by  the  fmger  of  God. 

If  Christianity  can  be  proved  to  be  a  religion  that  inspires  the 
love  of  God  and  man  ;  yea,  and  the  only  religion  in  the  world 
that  does  so  ;  if  it  endues  the  mind  of  him  that  embraces  it  with  a 
principle  of  justice,  meekness,  chastity,  and  goodness  ;  and  even 
gives  a  tone  to  the  morals  of  the  society  at  large  ;  it  will  then  ap- 
pear to  carry  its  evidence  along  with  it.  The  effects  which  it  pro- 
duces will  be  its  letters  of  recommendation  ;  written  not  icith  ink, 
hut  with  the  spirit  of  the  living  God ;  not  in  tables  of  stone,  but  in 
fleshly  tables  of  the  heart.  Moreover,  if  Christianity  can  be  pro- 
ved to  be  in  harmony  with  itself,  correspondent  with  observation 
and  experience,  and  consistent  with  the  clearest  dictates  of  sober 
reason,  it  will  further  appear  to  carry  in  it  its  own  evidence  : 
come  through  whose  hands  it  may,  it  will  evince  itself  to  be  what 
it  professes  to  be — a  religion  from  God. 

I  will  only  add,  in  this  place,  that  the  Christianity  here  defend- 
ed is  not  Christianity  as  it  is  corrupted  by  popish  superstition,  or    , 
as  interwoven  with  national  establishments,    for  the    accomplish- 
ment of  secular  purposes ;  but,  as  it  is  taught  in  the   New   Testa- 
ment, and  practised  by  sincere  Christians.     There  is  no  doubt. 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


but  that,  iii  man}'  instances,  Christianity  has  been  adopted  by 
worldly  men,  even  by  Infidels  themselves,  for  the  piirpc^es  of 
promoting  their  political  designs.  Findinj;  the  bulk  of  the  peo- 
ple inclined  to  the  Christian  religion  under  some  particular  form, 
and  attached  to  certain  leading  persons  among  them  who  sustained 
the  characters  of  teachers,  they  have  considered  it  as  a  piece  of 
good  policy  to  give  this  religion  an  establishment,  and  these  teach- 
ers a  share  in  the  government.  It  is  thus  that  religion,  to  its  great 
dishonour,  has  been  converted  into  an  engine  of  state.  The  pol- 
itician may  be  pleased  with  his  success,  and  the  teacher  with  his 
honours,  and  even  the  people  be  so  far  misled  as  to  love  to  have 
it  so  ;  but  the  mischief  resulting  from  it  to  religion  is  incalcalable. 
Even  where  such  establishments  have  arisen  from  piety,  they 
have  not  failed  to  corrupt  the  minds  of  Christians  from  the  sim- 
plicity which  is  in  Christ.  It  was  by  these  means  that  the  Church 
at  an  early  period,  from  being  the  bride  of  Christ,  gradually  de- 
generated to  a  harlot,  and,  in  the  end,  became  the  mother  of  har- 
lots, and  abominations  of  the  earth.  The  good  that  is  done  in 
such  communities  is  not  m  consequence  of  their  peculiar  ecclesi- 
astical constitution,  but  in  spite  of  it :  it  arises  from  the  virtue  of 
individuals,  which  operates  notwithstanding  the  disadvantages  of 
their  situation. 

These  are  the  things  that  atford  a  handle  to  unbelievers.  They 
seldom  choose  to  attack  Christianity  as  it  is  drawn  in  the  sacred 
writings,  and  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  real  Christians,  who  stand 
at  a  distance  from  worldly  parade,  political  struggles,  or  state  in- 
trigues ;  but  as  it  is  corrupted  and  abused  by  worldly  men.  Mr. 
Paine  racks  his  imagination  to  make  out  a  resemblance  betwixt  the 
heathen  mythology  and  Christianity.  While  he  is  going  over 
the  ground  of  Christianity  fis  instituted  by  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
the  resemblance  is  faint  indeed.  There  are  only  two  points  in 
which  he  even  pretends  to  find  an  agreement  ;  and  these  are 
formed  by  his  misrepresenting  the  scriptures.  The  heathen  de- 
ities were  said  to  he  celestially  begotten  ;  and  Christ  is  called  the 
Son  of   God.*     The    heathens  had   a  plurality  of  deities,  even 

*  To  give  a  colour  to  this  statement,  he  is  obliged  to  affirm  a  most  palpa- 
ble falsehood,  that  only  Gentiles  believed  Jesus  to  be  the  son  of  God. 


14  INTRODUCTIOiN. 

twenty  or  thirty  thousand  ;  and  Christianity  has  reduced  them  to 
three  !  It  is  easy  to  see  that  this  is  ground  not  suited  to  Mr.  Paine's 
purpose  :  he  therefore  hastens  to  corrupted  Christianity  ;  and 
here  he  finds  plenty  of  materials.  "The  Statue  of  Mary,"  hfe 
says  "succeeded  the  statue  of  Diana  of  Ephesus.  The  deifica- 
tion of  heroes  changed  into  the  canonization  of  saints,  The  my- 
thologists  had  gods  for  every  thing.  The  Christian  mythologists 
had  saints  for  every  thing.  The  church  became  as  crowded  with 
the  one,  as  the  pantheon  had  been  with  the  other  ;  and  Rome  was 
the  place  of  both."*  Very  true,  Mr.  Paine  ;  but  you  are  not  so 
ignorant  as  to  mistake  this  for  Christianity.  Had  you  been  born 
and  educated  in  Italy,  or  Spain,  you  might  have  been  excused  in 
calling  this  "  The  Christian  theory  ;"  but  to  write  in  this  manner 
with  your  advantages  is  disingenuous.  Such  conduct  would  have 
disgraced  any  cause  but  yours.  It  is  capable,  however,  of  some 
improvement.  It  teaches  us  to  defend  nothing  but  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus.  It  also  affords  presumptive  evidence  in  its  favour  ; 
for  if  Christianity  itself  were  false,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that 
you,  or  some  of  your  fellow  labourers,  would  be  able  to  prove 
it  so  ;  and  this  would  turn  greatly  toyour  account.  Your  neglec- 
ting this,  and  directing  your  artillery  chiefly  against  its  corruptions 
and  abuses,  betrays  a  consciousness  that  the  thing  itself,  if  not  in- 
vulnerable, is  yet  not  so  easy  of  attack.  If  Christianity  had  really 
been  a  relic  of  heathenism,  as  you  suggest,  there  is  little  reason  to 
think  that  you  would  have  so  strenuously  opposed  it. 

*  Age  of  reason,  Pari  I.  p.  5. 


0^   ^' 


CxOSPEL  ITS  OWN  WITNESS,  &c 


PART  I. 


JN   WHICH   TIIK  HOLY  NATURE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN    RELIGION    IS    CO\- 
IRASTRn   WITH   THE    IMMORALITY   OF    DEISM. 


TiiK  greatest  enemies  of  Christianity  woulJ  still  be  thoughi 
J'rienill}'  to  morality,  and  will  plead  for  it  as  necessary  to  the  well 
being  of  mankind.  However  immoral  men  may  be  in  their  prac 
ticc,  and  to  whatever  lengths  they  may  proceed  in  extenuatinc 
particular  vices  ;  yet  they  cannot  plead  for  immorality  in  the  gross 
A  sober,  upright,  humble,  chaste,  and  generous  character,  i*^ 
allowed,  on  all  iiands,  to  bo  preferable  to  one  that  is  profligate, 
treacherous,  proud,  unchaste,  or  cruel.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  sense 
which  men  possess  of  right  and  wrong,  that,  whenever  thcA 
attempt  to  disparage  the  former,  or  vindicate  the  latter,  they  are 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  covering  each  with  a  false  disguise. 
They  cannot  traduce  good  as  good,  or  justi.^y  evil  as  eiul.  The 
love  of  God  must  be  called  fanaiirism,  and  benevolence  to  men 
methodism,  or  some  such  opprobrious  name,  before  they  can 
de|)reciate  them.  Tiieft,  cruell},  and  murder,  on  the  other  hand, 
must  assume  the  names  of  icisdom  nud  good  policy,  ere  a  plea  can 
be  set  up  in  their  defence.  Thus  \\  tp.  the  argument^^  tor  the 
abolition  of  the  slave  trade  answered,  and  in  this  manner  was  that 


]6  THE  MORAL  CHARACTER  OF  GOD.  [K^rt  I. 

iniquitous  traffic  defended  in  the  British  Parliament.  Doubtless 
there  is  a  woe  hanging  over  the  heads  of  those  men  who  thus  cal- 
led evil  good,  and  good  evil ;  nevertheless,  we  see,  even  in  their 
cenduct,  the  amiableness  of  righteousness,  and  the  impossibility  of 
fairly  opposing  it. 


CHAPTER  I. 


CHRISTIAMTV  RKVEALS  A  GOD  GLORIOUS  IN  HOLINF.SS  :  BUT  DKISM. 
THOUGH  IT  ACKNOWLEDGES  A  OOD,  VET  DENIES  OR  OVKR/.OOK« 
HIS   MORAL   CHARACTER. 


There  are  certain  perloctions  which  all  who  acknowleilge  a 
God  agree  iu  attributing  to  him  :  such  are  those  of  wisdom,  power, 
immutability,  kc.  These,  by  Christian  divines,  are  usually 
termed  his  natural  perfections.  There  are  others  which  no  less 
evidently  belong  to  deity,  such  as  goodness,  justice,  veracity,  &c. 
all  which  may  be  expressed  in  one  word — holiness ;  and  these  are 
usually  termed  his  moral  perfections.  Both  natural  and  moral 
attributes  tend  to  display  the  glory  of  the  divine  character,  but 
especially  the  latter.  Wisdom  and  power,  in  the  Supreme  Being, 
render  him  a  proper  object  of  admiration  ;  but  justice,  veracity, 
and  goodness,  attract  our  love.  No  being  is  beloved  for  his  great- 
ness, but  for  his  goodness.  Moral  excellence  is  the  highest  glor^ 
of  an  intelligent  being,  created  or  uncreated.  Without  this,  wis- 
dom would  be  subtilty,  power  tyranny,  and  immutability  the  same 
thing  as  being  unchangeably  wicked. 

We  account  it  the  glory  of  revelation,  that,  while  it  displays  the 
natural  perfections  of  God  in  a  way  superior  to  any  thing  that  has 
been  called  religion,  it  exhibits  his  moral  excellence  in  a  manner 
peculiar  to  itself.  It  was  with  good  reason  that  Moses  affirmed  in 
behalf  of  Israel,  Their  rock  is  vol  as  our  Rock,  our  enemies  tlteni- 
selves  beitig  judges.  The  God,  or  Rock,  of  Israel  is  constantly 
described  as  a  being  glorious  in  holiness,  and  as  requiring  pure 
and  holy  worship  :  The  Lord,  llie  Lord  Gud,  merciful  and gruciom^ 
long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  in  truth. — The  Lord 
our  God  is  holy. — Holy  and  reverend  is  his  name. — Glory  ye  in  his 
holy  name. — And  one  cried  to  another,  and  said,  Holy,  holy,  holy  is 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  Zihole  earth  is  fidl  ofhisglvry. — Jlc  is  of  purer 

Vol.  Ill  :^ 


ly  THE  MORAL  CHARACTER.  [Fart  I. 

eyes  than  to  behold  evil  ;  and  cannot  look  on  iniquity. — A  God  of 
truths  and  ■without  iniquity  just  and  right  is  he.  Is  any  thing  like 
this  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  heathens  ?  No. 
The  generality  of  their  deities  were  the  patrons  of  vice,  and  their 
worship  was  accompanied  with  tiie  foulest  abominations  that  could 
diso-race  the  nature  of  man.  Justice,  benevolence,  and  veracity 
were  not  considered  as  necessary  in  any  part  of  their  religion, 
and  a  large  proportion  of  it  consisted  in  drunkenness,  lewdness, 
and  the  otTering  up  of  human  sacrifices. 

The  object  of  Christian  adoration  is  Jehovah,  tlie  God  of  Israel; 
whose  character  for  holiness,  justice  and  goodness,  is  display- 
ed in  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  the  gospel,  in  a  more  affecting 
light  than  by  any  of  the  peceding  dispensations.  But  who  or 
what  is  the  God  of  Deists  ?  It  is  true,  that  they  have  been  sham- 
ed out  of  the  polytheism  of  the  heathens.  They  have  reduced 
their  thirty  thousand  deities  into  one:  but  what  is  his  character? 
What  attributes  do  they  ascribe  to  him  ?  For  any  thing  that  appears 
in  their  writings,  he  is  far  from  the  holy,  the  just,  and  the  good,  as 
those  of  their  heathen  predecessors.  They  enjoy  a  pleasure,  it  is 
allowed,  in  contemplating  the  productions  of  wisdom  and  power  ; 
but  as  to  holiness,  it  is  foreign  from  their  inquiries  :  a  holy  God 
does  not  appear  to  be  suited  to  their  wishes. 

Lord  Bolingbroke  acknowledges  a  God,  but  is  for  reducing  all 
his  attributes  to  wisdom  :\nd  power;  blaming  divines  for  distin- 
guishing between  his  physical  and  moral  attributes  ;  asserting,  that 
"  we  cannot  ascribe  goodness  and  justice  to  God,  according  to  our 
ideas  of  them,  nor  argue  with  any  certainty  about  them  ;  and  that 
it  is  absurd  to  deduce  moral  obligations  from  the  moral  attributes 
of  God,  or  to  pretend  to  imitate  him  in  those  attributes."* 

Voltaire  admits  a  "supreme,  eternal,  incomprehensible  Intelli- 
gence ;"  but  passes  over  his  moral  character.! 

Mr.  Paine  says,  "  I  believe  in  one  God,  and  more;"+  and  in  th^ 
course  of  his  work  ascribes  to  him  the  natural  perfections  of  tois- 
dam  and  powei';  but  is  very  sparing  in  what  he  says  of  his   moral 

*  See  Leland's  Review,  Let.  XXIII. 

+  Ignorant  Philospher,  Tios.  XV.  XVI.  XVII.      |  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  1 . 


VlHAPTER    I.]  OF    GOU.  19 

excellence,  of  his  being  the  moral  governor  of  the  world,  anJ  of 
man's  being  an  accountable  creature.  lie  afl'ects,  indeed,  to  be 
shocked  at  the  impurity  of  the  ideas  and  expressions  of  the  Bible, 
and  to  feel  for  '«  the  honour  of  his  Creator  in  having  such  a  book 
called  after  his  name."*  This  is  the  only  passage,  that  I  recol- 
lect, in  which  he  expresses  any  concern  for  the  moral  character 
of  God  ;  and  whether  this  would  have  appeared  but  for  the  sake 
of  giving  an  edge  to  reproach,  let  the  reader  judge. 

How  are  ue  to  account  for  these  writers  thus  denying  or  over- 
looking the  moral  character  of  the  Deity,  but  by  supposing  that  a 
holi/  God  is  not  suited  to  their  inclinations  ?  If  we  bear  a  sincere 
regard  to  moral  excellence,  we  shall  regard  every  being  in  propor- 
tion as  he  appears  to  possess  it ;  and  if  we  consider  the  Divine  Be- 
ing as  possessing  it  supremely,  and  as  the  source  of  it  to  all  other 
beings,  it  will  be  natural  for  us  to  love  him  supremely,  and  all  oth- 
er beings  in  subserviency  to  him.  And  if  we  love  him  supremely, 
on  account  of  his  moral  character,  it  will  be  no  less  natural  to  take 
pleasure  in  contemplating  him  under  that  character. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  we  be  enemies  to  moral  excellence,  it  will 
render  every  being  who  possesses  it  unlovely  in  our  eyes.  Virtu- 
ous or  holy  characters  may  indeed  command  our  respect,  and  even 
admiration  ;  but  will  not  attract  our  affection.  Whatever  regard 
we  may  bear  to  them,  it  will  not  be  on  account  of  their  virtue,  but 
of  other  qualities  of  which  they  may  be  possessed.  Virtuous  char- 
acters may  be  also  wise  and  mighty  ;  and  we  may  adniire  their 
ingenuity,  be  delighted  with  their  splendour,  and  take  pleasure  in 
visiting  them,  that  we  may  inspect  their  curiosities ;  but,  in  such 
cases,  the  more  things  of  a  moral  nature  are  kept  at  a  distance,  the 
more  agreeable  will  be  our  visit.  Much  the  same  may  be  said  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  If  we  be  enemies  to  moral  excellence,  God,  as  a 
holy  being,  will  possess  no  loveliness  in  our  eyes.  We  may  ad- 
mire him  with  that  kind  of  admiration  which  is  paid  to  a  great 
genius,  and  may  feel  a  pleasure  in  tracing  the  grandeur  and  ingenuity 
of  his  operations  ;  but  the  farther  his  moral  character  is  kept  out  of 
sight,  the  more  agreeable  it  will  be  to  us. 

'^^  Ae;e  of  Reason,  Pnrl  I  p.  16. 


20  THE  MORAL  CHARACTER  [I'art  L 

Lord  Shaftesbury,  not  contented  with  overlooking,  attempts  to 
satirize  the  scripture  representations  of  the  divine  character. 
'  One  would  think,"  he  says,  "  it  were  easy  to  understand,  that 
provocation  and  offence,  anger  revenge,  jealousy  in  point  of  hon- 
our or  power,  love  of  ftime,  glory,  and  the  like,  belong  only  to  lim- 
ited beings,  and  are  necessarily  excluded  a  Being  which  is  perfect 
and  universal."*  That  many  things  are  attributed  to  the  Divine 
Being  in  a  figurative  style,  speaking  merely  after  the  manner  of 
men,  and  that  they  are  so  understood  by  Christians,  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury must  have  well  known.  We  do  not  think  it  lawful,  however, 
so  to  explain  away  these  expressions,  as  to  consider  the  Great  Su- 
preme as  inca[)able  of  being  offended  with  sin  and  sinners,  as  desti- 
tute of  pleasure  or  displeasure,  or  as  unconcerned  about  his  own 
glory,  the  exercise  of  which  involves  the  general  good  of  the  uni- 
verse. A  being  of  this  description  would  be  neither  loved  nor 
feared,  but  would  become  the  object  of  universal  contempt. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  imperfection  of  our  nature  that  we  are  sus- 
ceptible of  provocation  and  offence,  of  anger,  of  jealousy,  and  of 
a  just  regard  to  our  own  honour.  Lord  Shaftesbury  himself 
would  have  ridiculed  the  man,  and  still  more  the  magistrate,  that 
should  have  been  incapable  of  these  properties  on  certain  occa- 
sions. They  are  planted  in  our  nature  by  the  Divine  being,  and 
are  adapted  to  answer  valuable  purposes.  If  they  be  perverted 
and  abused  to  sordid  ends,  which  is  too  frequently  the  case,  this 
does  not  alter  their  nature,  nor  lessen  their  utility.  What  would 
Lord  Shaftesbury  have  thought  of  a  magistrate,  who  should  have 
witnessed  a  train  of  assassinations  and  murders,  without  being  in 
Ihe  least  offended  at  them,  or  angry  wilh  the  perpetrators,  or 
inclined  to  take  vengeance  on  them,  for  the  public  good  ?  What 
would  he  think  of  a  British  House  of  Commons,  which  should 
exercise  no  jealousy  over  the  encroachments  of  a  minister  ;  or  of 
a  King  of  Great  Britain^  who  should  suffer,  with  perfect  indiffer- 
ence, his  just  authority  to  be  contemned? 

'  But  we  are  limited  beings,  and  are  therefore  in  danger  of  hav- 
ing our  just  rights  invaded.'  True  ;  and  though  God  be  unlimited, 
and  so  in  no  danger  of  being  deprived  of  his  essential  glory,  yet  he 

*  Characteristics,  Vol.  I.  ^  5, 


Chapter  I.]  OF  GOD.  21 

may  lose  his  just  authority  in  the  esteem  of  creatures ;  and  were 
this  to  take  place  universally,  the  whole  creation  would  be  a  scene 
of  anarchy  and  misery.  But  we  understand  Lord  Shaftesbury. 
He  wishes  to  compliment  his  Maker  out  of  all  his  moral  excellen- 
cies. He  has  no  objection  to  a  God,  provided  he  be  one  after  his 
own  heart,  one  who  shall  pay  no  such  regard  to  human  affairs  as 
to  call  Hien  to  account  for  their  ungodly  deeds.  If  he  thought  the 
Creator  of  the  world  to  bear  such  a  character,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
be  should  speak  of  him  with  what  he  calls  "  good  humour,  or 
pleasantry,"*  In  speaking  of  such  a  being,  he  can,  as  Mr.  Hume 
expresses  it,  "feel  more  at  ease,"  than  if  he  conceived  of  God  as 
he  is  characterized  in  the  holy  scriptures.  But  let  men  beware 
how  they  play  with  such  subjects.  Their  conceptions  do  not  alter 
the  nature  of  God :  and,  however  they  suffer  themselves  to  trifle 
now,  they  may  find  in  the  end  that  there  is  not  only  a  God,  but  a 
God  thatjudgeth  in  the  earth. 

'   Characteristics.  Vol.  I.  }  3. 


CHAPTER  U. 


iHRISTIAMTY  TKACHES  US  TO  ACKNOWLEDOE  COU,  AND  TO  DKVOTK 
OIRSF.LVES  TO  HIS  SERVICE  :  BUT  DEISM,  THOlGfl  IT  CONFESSED 
ONE  SUPREMK   BEING,   VET  REFUSES  TO  UOSHIP  HIM. 


If  there  is  a  Goil  he  oti<rht  to  be  worsliiped.  This  is  a  principle 
which  no  man  will  be  able  to  eradicate  from  his  bosom,  or  even  to 
suppress,  but  at  c;reat  labour  and  expense.  The  scriptures,  it  is 
well  known,  both  inculcate  and  inspire  the  worship  of  God.  Their 
languai^e  is,  O  come,  let  us  si»g  unto  the  Lord ;  let  us  make  a  joy- 
ful noise  to  the  Rock  of  our  salvation.  Let  us  come  before  his 
presence  with  thanksgiving,  and  make  a  joyful  noise  unto  him  with 
psalms. — O  come  let  us  worship  and  bow  down  :  let  us  kneel  before 
the  Lord  our  Maker.  —  Clive  unto  the  Lo^d  glory  and  strength; 
give  unto  the  Lord  the  glory  due  unto  his  Name  :  bring  an  ofering, 
and  come  into  his  courts.  O  worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of 
holiness :  fear  before  him  all  the  earth. — Give  thanks  tint o  the 
Lord;  call  upon  his  name ;  made  known  his  deeds  among  the  peo- 
ple.— Glory  ye  in  his  holy  Name:  let  the  heart  of  them  rejoice  that 
seek  the  Lord.  Seek  the  Lord,  and  his  strength ;  seek  his  face 
evermore. 

The  spirit  also  which  the  scriptures  inspire  is  favourable  to 
divine  worship.  The  grand  lesson  which  they  teach  is  love;  and 
love  to  God  delights  to  express  itself  in  acts  of  obedience,  adora- 
tion, supplication,  and  praise.  The  natural  language  of  a  heart 
well  affected  to  God  is,  I  will  call  upon  him  as  long  as  I  live. — 
Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul;  and  all  that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy 
Name. — Be  careful  for  nothing  ;  but  in  every  thing  by  prayer  and 
supplication,  with  thanksgiving,  let  your  requests  be  made  known 
unto  God. 

Is  it  thus  with  our  adversaries  ?  They  speak,  indeed,  of ''true 
and  fabulous  theology,"  and  of  *'true  and  false  religion;"  and 
often  talk  of  "  adoring"  the  Supreme  Being.     But  if  there  be  no 


24  ON  THE  WORSHIP  [Part  1. 

true  religion  among  Christians,  where  are  we  to  look  for  it? 
Surely  not  among  Deists.  Their  "  adorations"  seem  to  be  a  kind 
of  exercises  much  resembling  the  benevolent  acts  of  certain  per- 
sons, who  are  so  extremely  averse  from  ostentation,  that  nobody 
knows  of  their  being  charitable  but  themselves. 

Mr.  Paine  professes  to  "  believe  in  the  equality  of  man,  and  thai 
religious  duties  consist  in  doing  justice,  loving  mercy^  and''' — and 
what  ?  I  thought  to  be  sure  he  had  been  going  to  add,  walk- 
ing humbly  with  God.  But  I  was  mistaken.  Mr.  Paine  supplies 
the  place  of  walking  humbly  with  God,  by  adding,  '■'■and  endeav- 
ouring to  make  our  fellow-creatures  happy. ''''*  Somie  people  would 
have  thought  that  this  was  included  in  doing  justice,  and  loving 
mercy  ;  but  Mr.  Paine  had  rather  use  words  without  meaning 
than  write  in  favour  of  godliness.  Walking  humbly  with  God  is 
not  comprehended  in  the  list  of  his  ''  religious  duties."  The  very 
phrase  offends  him.  It  is  that  to  him,  in  quoting  scripture,  which 
a  nonconductor  is  to  the  electrical  fluid  :  it  causes  him  to  fly  off  in 
an  oblique  direction  ;  and,  rather  than  say  any  thing  on  so  offen- 
sive a  subject,  to  deal  in  unmeaning  tautology. 

Mr.  Paine  not  only  avoids  the  mention  of  walking  humbly  with 
God,  but  attempts  to  load  the  practice  itself  with  the  foulest 
abuse.!  He  does  not  consider  himself  as  "  an  outcast,  a  beggar, 
or  a  worm  ;"  he  does  not  approach  his  Maker  through  a  mediator ; 
he  considers  "  redemption  as  a  fable,"  and  himself  as  standing  in 
an  honourable  situation  with  regard  to  his  relation  to  the  Deity. 
Some  of  this  may  be  true  ;  but  not  the  whole.  The  latter  part  is 
only  a  piece  of  religious  gasconade.  If  Mr.  Paine  really  thinks  so 
well  of  his  situation  as  he  pretends,  the  belief  of  an  hereafter  would 
not  render  him  "  the  slave  of  terror."+  But,  allowing  the  whole 
to  be  true,  it  proves  nothing.  A  high  conceit  of  one's  self  is  no 
proof  of  excellence.  If  he  choose  to  rest  upon  this  foundation, 
he  must  abide  the  consequence  :  but  he  had  better  forborne  to 
calumniate  others.  What  is  it  that  has  transported  this  child  of 
reason  into  a  paroxism  of  fury  against  devout  people  ?     By  what 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p  2. 
t  Age  of  Reason,  Pari  I.  p.  21.  :j:  Part  II.  near  the  end. 


Chaptku  II.j  of  god.  35 

spirit  is  lie  inspired,  in  pourinL;  lortli  such  a  torrent  of  slander? 
Why  is  it  tli.it  lii'  iiiiHt  accuse  their  huniihty  ot'  "  ingratitude," 
their  grief  of  '*  alVectation,"  and  their  prayers  of  being  "  dictato- 
rial" to  the  .\hni<;hty  .'  Cain  haled  his  brother ;  and  wherefore 
hated  he  him  ;  because  his  own  works  were  evil,  and  his  brother's 
righteous.  Prayer  and  devotion  are  things  that  Mr.  Paine  should 
have  let  alone,  as  heini;  out  of  his  province.  P»y  attempting,  how- 
ever, to  depreciate  them,  he  has  borne  witness  to  the  devotion  of 
Christians,  and  lultilled  what  is  written  in  a  book  which  he  aft'ects 
to  despise,  Speaking  evil  of  the  things  which  he  understands  not. 

To  admit  a  God,  and  yet  refuse  to  worship  him,  is  a  modern  and 
inconsi-tenl  |iractice.  it  is  a  dictate  of  reason,  as  well  as  of  reve- 
lation :  IJ  the  Lord  be  God,  icorship  him;  and  if  Baal.,  worship 
him.  It  never  w.is  made  a  (piestion,  whether  the  Ciod  in  whom 
we  believe  ^llould  receive  our  adorations.  All  nations,  in  all  ages, 
paid  religious  homage  to  the  respective  deities,  or  supposed  dei- 
ties, in  wliich  they  beleived.  iModern  unbelievers  are  the  only 
men  who  have  deviated  from  this  pr/ictice.  How  this  is  to  be 
accounted  for,  is  a  subject  ivorthy  of  inquiry.  To  mo  it  appears 
ns  follows  : 

In  lormer  time?,  when  men  were  weary  of  the  worsiiip  of  the 
true  God,  they  exchani;ed  it  for  that  of  idols.  I  know  of  no 
account  of  the  origin  of  idolatry  so  rational  as  that  which  is  given 
by  revelation.  Men  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge  : 
therefore  they  were  given  up  to  a  mind  void  of  judgment ;  to  change 
the  glori/  of  the  uncorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to  cor- 
ruptible man,  and  to  birds,  and  four  footed  btiists,  and  creeping 
things;  and  to  defile  themselves  by  abominable  wickedness.*  It 
was  thus  witli  the  people  who  came  to  inhabit  the  country  of 
Samaria  after  the  Israelites  were  carried  captives  into  Assyria.  At 
first  they  seemed  desirous  to  know  and  fear  the  God  of  Israel ; 
but  when  they  came  to  i»e  informed  of  his  holy  character,  and 
what  kind  of  worship  he  required,  they  presently  discovered  their 
dislike.  They  pretended  to  fear  him,  but  it  was  mere  pretence  ; 
for  every  nation  made  gods  of  their  own.]     Now,  gods   of  their 

*  Rom.  ii.  +  2Kiiig3Xvii. 

Vol.  III.  4 


20  ON  THE  WORSHIP  |  Part  ( 

own  making  would  doubtless  be  characterized  according  to  their 
own  mind  :  they  would  be  patrons  of  such  vices  as  their  makers 
wished  to  indulge  ;  gods  whom  they  could  approach  without  fear, 
and  in  addressing  them  be  "more  at  ease,"  as  Mr.  Hume  says, 
ban  in  addressing  the  One  living  and  true  God  ;  gods,  in  fine,  the 
worship  of  whom  might  be  accompanied  with  bnnquetings,  revel- 
lings,  drunkenness,  and  lewdness.  These  I  conceive,  rather  than 
the  mere  falling  down  to  an  idol,  were  the  exercises  that  inter- 
ested the  passions  of  the  worshippers.  These  were  the  exercises 
(hat  seduced  the  ungoflly  part  of  the  Israelitish  nation  to  an  imita- 
tion of  the  heathens.  They  found  it  extremely  disagreeable 
to  be  constantly  employed  in  the  worship  of  a  holy  God.  Such 
worship  would  awe  their  spirits,  damp  their  pleasures, 
and  restrain  their  inclinations.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore, 
that  they  should  be  continually  departing  from  the  worship  of 
Jehovah,  and  leaning  towards  that  which  was  more  congen- 
ial with  their  propensities.  But  the  situation  of  modern  unbe- 
lievers is  singular.  Things  are  so  circumstanced  with  them,  that 
they  cannot  worship  the  gods  which  tliey  prefer.  They  never 
fail  to  discover  a  strong  partiality  in  favour  of  heathens  ;  but  they 
have  not  the  face  to  practice  or  defend  their  absurd  idolatries. 
The  doctrine  of  One  living  and  true  God  has  appeared  in  the 
world,  by  means  of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  with  such  a  blaze 
of  evidence,  that  it  has  forced  itself  into  the  minds  of  men,  what- 
ever has  been  the  temper  of  their  hearts.  The  stupid  idolatry  of 
past  ages  is  exploded.  Christianity  has  driven  it  out  of  Europe. 
The  consequence  is,  great  numbers  are  obliged  to  acknowledge 
a  God  whom  they  cannot  find  in  their  hearts  to  worship. 

If  the  light  that  is  gone  abroad  in  the  earth  would  permit  the 
rearing  of  temples  to  Venus,  or  Bacchus,  or  any  of  the  rabble 
of  heathen  deities,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  modern  unbelievers 
would,  in  great  numbers,  become  their  devotees  :  but,  seeing  they 
cannot  have  a  god  whose  worship  shall  accord  with  their  inclina- 
tions, they  seem  determined  not  to  worship  at  all.  And,  to  come 
otf  with  as  good  a  grace  as  the  afi'air  will  admit,  they  compliment 
the  Deity  out  of  his  sovereign  prerogatives  ;  professing  to  "love 
him  for  his  giving  them  existence,  and  all  their  properties,  without 


Chapter  II.]  OF  GOD.  27 

interest,  and  witliout  subjecting  them  to  any  tliuiti;  but  their  own 
nature."* 

The  introduction  of  so  huge  a  portion  ot  lioathon  mythology  into 
the  songs  and  other  entertainments  of  the  stage,  sufficiently  shows 
the  bias  of  people's  hearts.  The  housi>  of  God  gives  them  no 
pleasure:  but  the  resurrection  of  the  obscenities,  intrigues,  and 
Bacchanalian  revels  of  the  old  heathens  atibrds  them  exquisite 
delight.  In  a  country  where  Christian  worship  abounds,  this  is 
plainly  saying,  '  What  a  weariness  is  it!  O  that  it  were  no  more! 
Since,  however,  we  cannot  introduce  the  worship  of  the  gods,  we 
will  neglect  all  worship,  and  celebrate  the  praises  of  our  favourite 
deities  in  another  form.'  In  a  country  where  Deism  has  gained 
the  ascendency,  this  principle  is  carried  still  farther.  Its  language 
there  is,  '  Seeing  we  cannot,  for  shame,  worship  any  other  than 
the  One  living  and  (rue  God,  let  us  abolish  the  day  of  worship, 
and  substitute  in  its  place  one  day  in  ten,  which  shall  be  devoted 
chiefly  to  theatrical  entertainments,  in  which  we  can  introduce  as 
much  heathenism  as  we  please.' 

Mr.  Hume  acknowledges  the  justice  of  considering  the  Deity  as 
infinitely  superior  to  mankind  ;  but  he  represents  it,  at  the  same 
time,  as  very  generally  attended  with  unpleasant  effects,  and  mag- 
nifies the  advantages  of  having  gods  which  are  only  a  little  superior 
to  ourselves.  He  says,  "  While  the  Deity  is  represented  as  infi- 
nitely superior  to  mankind,  this  belief,  though  altogether  just,  is 
apt,  when  joined  with  superstitious  terrors,  to  sink  the  human 
mind  into  the  lowest  submission  and  abasement,  and  to  represent 
the  monkish  virtues  of  mortification,  pennance,  humility,  and  pas- 
sive sufl'ering,  as  the  only  qualities  which  are  acceptable  to  him. 
But,  where  the  gods  are  conceived  to  be  only  a  little  superior  to 
mankind,  and  to  have  been  tnany  of  them  advanced  from  that  infe- 
rior rank,  we  are  more  at  our  ease  in  our  addresses  to  them,  and 
may  even,  without  profaneness,  aspire  to  a  rivalship  and  emulation 
of  them.  Hence  activity,  spirit,  courage,  magnanimity,  love  of 
liberty,  and  all  the  virtues  which   aggrandize    a  people."!     It  is 

*  Ignorant  Philosopher,  No.  XXIV. 
^  Diiserlation  the  Natural  Hi<ttory  «f  ileligiou,  (  lU 


28  ON    IHH  WORSHIP  OF  GOD.  [fARi  L 

easy  to  perceive  from  this  passage,  that  thongh  Mr.  Hume  acknowl- 
edges the  Justice  of  conceiving  of  a  God  infinitely  superior  to  us, 
yet  his  inclination  is  the  other  vvay.  At  least,  in  a  nation,  the 
bulk  of  which  will  be  supposed  to  be  inclined  to  superstition,  it  is 
better  according  to  his  reasoning,  and  more  friendly  to  virtue,  to 
promote  the  worship  of  a  number  of  imaginary  deities,  than  of  the 
One  only  living  and  true  God.  Thus  the  fool  saith  in  his  heart, 
JVb  God  ! 

The  sum  of  the  whole  is  this  :  Modern  unbelievers  are  Deists 
theory,  Pagans  in  inclination,  and  Atheists  in  practice. 

If  Deists  loved  the  One  only  living  and  true  God,  they  would 
delight  in  worshipping  him  ;  for  love  cannot  be  inoperative  :  and 
the  only  possible  way  for  it  to  operaie  towards  an  infinitely  glorious 
and  all-perfect  Being  is  by  worshipping  his  name,  and  obeying  his 
will.  If  Mr.  Paine  really  felt  for  '•  the  honoar  of  his  Creator,"  as 
he  affects  to  do,*  he  would  mourn  in  secret  for  all  the  great  wick- 
edness of  which  he  has  committed  against  him  ;  he  would  lie  in 
in  the  dust  before  him,  not  merely  as  "  an  outcast,  a  beggar,  and 
a  worm,"  but  as  a  sinner  deserving  his  eternal  displeasure. 
He  would  be  glad  of  a  Mediator,  through  whom  he  might  approach 
his  offended  Creator  ;  and  would  consider  redemption  by  his  blood, 
not  as  "  a  fable,"  but  a  divine  reality,  including  all  his  salvation, 
and  all  his  desire.  Yea,  he  himself  would  ''turn  devout;"  and  it 
would  be  said  of  him,  as  of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  Behold  he  prayeth  ! 
Nor  would  his  prayers,  though  importunate,  be  ''  dictatorial,"  or 
his  grief  "  affected."  On  the  contrary,  he  would  look  on  Him 
whom  he  hath  pierced,  and  mourn,  as  one  mourneth  for  an  only- 
son  ;  and  be  in -bitterness,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his  first 
born.  But  these  are  things  pertaining  to  godliness  ;  things,  alas 
for  him,  the  mention  of  which  is  sufficient  to  inflame  his  mind  with 
malignity,  and  provoke  him  to  the  most  outrageous  and  abusive 
language. 

•  Ag:e  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  16. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  rHRF?TI.W  STANDARD  OF  MORALITY  IS  ENLARfiED,  AND  VKEff 
FROM  IMPIIUTV  :  ni'T  DEISM  CONFINES  OUR  OBLIGATIONS  TO 
THOSE  niTir*  U  UK  ll  RESI'KCT  our  own  species,  and  'iREATLV 
PALLIATES    VICE    W  IIII   RFciAItO  TO  A   BREACH   EVEN    OF  THEM. 


Persons  who  profess  the  strictest  regard  to  the  ru\o  of  chity,  and 
carry  the  extent  of  it  to  the  hii^hcst  pitch,  may,  it  is  allowed,  be  in- 
sincere, and  contradict  by  their  practice  what  they  advance  in 
their  profes«ions.  But  those  whose  ideas  of  virtue  are  low  and 
contracted,  and  who  embrace  every  opportunity  to  reconcile  the 
vices  of  the  world  with  its  sacred  precepts,  cannot  possibly  be 
accounted  any  other  than  its  enemies. 

That  which  the  scriptures  call  /lolincsa^spiritunlity,  ^'C.  as  much 
surpasses  every  thing  that  goes  under  the  names  of  morality  and 
virtue  among  unbelievers,  as  a  living  man  surpasses  a  painting,  or 
even  a  rude  and  imperfect  daubing.  If,  in  this  controversy,  I  have 
used  these  terms  to  express  the  scriptural  ideas,  it  is  not  because 
m  their  ordinary  acceptation  they  are  equal  to  the  purpose,  but 
for  the  sake  of  meeting  unbelievers  upon  their  own  ground.  I 
have  a  right,  however,  to  understand  by  them,  those  dispositions 
of  the  mind,  whatever  they  be,  which  are  right,  Jit ^  or  amiable  ; 
and  so  explained,  I  undertake  to  prove  that  the  morality  and  vir- 
tue inculcated  by  the  gospel  is  enlarged  and  free  from  impurity, 
while  that  which  is  taught  by  its  adversaries  is  the  reverse. 

It  is  a  distinguishing  property  of  the  Bible  that  all  its  precepts 
aim  directly  at  the  heart.  It  never  goes  about  to  form  the  mere 
exterior  of  man.  To  merely  external  duties  it  is  a  stranger.  It 
forms  the  lives  of  men  no  otherwise  than  by  forming  their  disposi- 
ions.     It  never  addresses  itself  to  their  vanity,  sellishness,  or  any 


30  THE  STANDARD  [Part  1. 

other  corrupt  propensity.  You  are  not  pressed  to  consider  what 
men  will  think  of  you,  or  how  it  will  affect  your  temporal  interest; 
but  what  is  right,  and  what  is  necessary  to  your  eternal  well-being. 
If  you  comply  with  its  precepts  you  must  be,  and  not  merely  seem 
to  be.  It  is  the  heart  that  is  required  :  and  all  the  different  pre- 
scribed forms  of  worship  and  obedience  are  but  so  many  modifica- 
tions, or  varied  expressions  of  it. 

Is  any  thing  like  this  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  Deists  ?  No. 
Their  deity  does  not  seem  to  take  cognizance  of  the  heart.  Ac- 
cording to  them  '^  There  is  no  merit  or  crime  in  intention."* 
Their  morality  only  goes  to  form  the  exterior  of  man.  It  allows 
the  utmost  scope  for  wicked  desires,  provided  they  be  not  carried 
into  execution  to  the  injury  of  society. 

The  morality  which  the  scriptures  inculcate  is  summed  up  in 
these  few  words  ;  Thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  with  all  thy  soul,  ivith  all  thy  mind,  iinth  all  thy  strength  ; 
and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  This  single  principle  is  competent  to 
the  government  of  all  intelligent  nature,  it  is  a  band  that  would 
hold  together  the  whole  rational  creation  ;  and  diffuse  peace,  or- 
der, and  happiness,  wherever  it  existed. 

If  mankind  loved  God  supremely,  there  would  be  no  idolatry 
upon  earth,  nor  any  of  its  attendant  abominations  ;  no  profaning 
fie  name  of  God,  nor  making  a  gain  of  godliness  ;  no  opposing, 
corrupting,  perverting,  nor  abusing  the  truth;  no  perjuries,  nor 
hypocrasies  ;  no  despising  of  those  that  are  good  ;  no  arrogance, 
ingratitude,  pride,  nor  self  complacency,  under  the  smiles  of  prov- 
idence :  and  no  murmuring,  heart-rising,  suUenness,  nor  suicide, 
un».  1  its  frowns.  Love  would  render  it  their  meat  and  drink  to 
fear,  honour,  and  obey  him,  and  induce  them  to  take  every  thing 
well  at  his  hands. — And  if  they  loved  their  fellow  creatures  as  them- 
selves, for  his  sake,  there  would  be  no  wars,  rivalships,  antipathies, 
nor  breach  of  treaties,  between  nations  ;  no  envyings,  strifes, 
wrongs,  slanders,  duels,  litigations,  nor  intrigues,  between  neigh- 
bours ;  no  flattering  complaisance,  nor  persecuting  bitterness,  in  relig- 
ion ;  no  deceit,  fraud,  nor  over-reaching,  in  trade  ;  no  tyrrany,  venal- 
ity, haughtiness,  nor  oppression,  among  the  great ;  no  envy,  discon- 

*  Volney'aLaw  of  Nature,  p.  18. 


CHArriRllII  OF  MORALITY.  31 

\oi\[,  ilisiiffoction,  c;il)al'>,  nor  evil-devisings,  among  common  peo- 
ple ;  no  murders,  robberies,  thefts,  burglaries,  nor  brothels,  in 
1  ity  or  country  ;  no  cruelty,  in  parents  or  masters  ;  no  ingratitude 
nor  disobedience,  in  children  or  servants  ;  no  unkindness,  treach- 
ery, nor  impl;\rable  resentments,  between  friends  ;  no  illicit  con- 
nexions between  the  sexes  ;  no  infidelities,  jealousies,  nor  bitter 
contentions,  in  families  ;  in  short,  none  of  those  streams  of  death, 
one  or  more  of  which  flow  through  every  vein  of  society,  and 
poison  its  enjoyments. 

Such  is  the  principle  and  rule  of  Christian  morality  ;  a.ul  what 
has  Deism  to  substitute  in  its  place  ?  Can  it  find  a  succedaneum 
for  love  ?  No,  but  it  |)roposes  the  love  of  ourselves  instead  of  the 
love  of  God.  Lord  Bolinjibroke  resolves  all  morality  into  self- 
love,  as  its  first  principle.  "  We  love  ourselves,"  he  says,  *'  wc 
love  our  families,  we  love  the  particalar  societies  to  which  we  be- 
long; and  our  benevolence  extends  at  last  to  the  whole  race  of 
mankind.  Like  so  many  different  vortices,  the  centre  of  all  is  self 
love."*     Such  also  are  tlie  principles  of  Volney. 

("ouKl  this  diposition  be  admitted  as  a  proper  source  of  moral 
action,  the  world  would  certainly  not  be  wanting  in  morality.  All 
men  possess  at  least  the  principle  of  it,  whether  they  carry  it  to 
the  extent  which  Lord  Bolingbroke  proposes,  or  not  :  for  though 
some  may  err  in  the  choice  of  their  end,  and  others  in  the  means 
of  obtaining  it ;  yet  no  man  was  ever  so  wanting  in  regard  to  him- 
self as  intentionally  to  pursue  his  own  injury.  But  if  it  should  prove 
that  to  render  self-love  the  source  of  moral  action  in  the  same 
thing  as  for  every  individual  to  treat  himself  as  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing ;  and,  therefore,  that  this  principle,  instead  of  being  a  source 
of  virtue,  is  the  very  essence  of  vice,  and  the  source  of  all  the 
mischief  in  the  universe,  consequences  may  follow  of  a  very  dif- 
lerenl  complexion. 

To  subordinate  self-love  I  have  no  objection.  It  occupies  a 
place  in  the  Christian  standard  of  morality,  being  the  measure  of 
that  love  which  we  owe  to  our  fellow-creatures.  And,  as  the 
universal  love  which  we  owe  to  them  does  not  hinder  but  that 
some  of  them,  by  reason  of  their  situation  or  peculiar  relation  to 

'  Poslhiimoii;  M"ork.«,  Vol.  V.  p.  R?. 


32  THE  STANDARD  [Part  I. 

us,  may  require  a  larger  portion  of  our  regard  than  others,  it 
is  the  same  with  respect  to  ourselves.  Our  own  concerns  are 
our  own  immediate  charge  ;  and  those  which  are  of  the  greatest 
importance,  such  as  the  concerns  of  our  souls,  undoubtedly  re- 
quire a  proportionate  degree  of  attention.  But  all  this  does  not 
affect  the  present  subject  of  inquiry.  It  is  our  supreme,  and  not 
our  subordinate  regard,  that  will  ever  be  the  source  of  action. 

I  take  it  for  granted,  that  it  is  the  intention  of  every  good  gov- 
ernment, human  or  divine,  to  unite  its  subjects,  and  not  to  set 
them  at  variance.  But  there  can  be  no  union  without  a  common 
object  of  regard.  Either  a  character  whom  all  love  and  venerate, 
or  an  end  which  all  pursue,  or  both,  is  that  to  a  community  which  a 
head-stone  is  to  an  arch  ;  nor  can  they  keep  together  without  it. 
It  is  thus  that  the  love  of  God  holds  creation  together.  He  is  that 
iovely  character  to  whom  all  holy  intelligencies  bear  supreme  af- 
fection ;  and  the  display  of  his  glory,  in  the  universal  triumph  of 
truth  and  righteousness,  is  that  end  which  they  all  pursue.  Thus 
united  in  their  grand  object,  they  cannot  but  feel  a  union  of  heart 
with  one  another,  arising  from,  what  is  common  to  every  other  vol- 
untary union,  a  congenialty  of  sentiments  and  pursuits. 

But  if  our  supreme  affection  terminate  on  ourselves,  and  no 
being,  created  or  uncreated,  be  regarded  but  for  our  own  sakes,  it 
is  manifest  there  can  be  no  union  beyond  the  sphere  in  which  oth- 
er beings  become  voluntarily  subservient  to  our  wishes.  The  Su- 
preme Being,  if  our  plan  do  not  comport  with  his,  will  be  continu- 
ally thwarting  us  ;  and  so  we  shall  be  always  at  variance  with  him. 
And  as  to  created  beings  those  individuals  whom  we  desire  to  be 
subservient  to  our  wishes,  having  the  same  right,  and  the  same 
inclination,  to  require  that  we  should  be  subservient  to  theirs,  will 
also  be  continually  thwarting  us  ;  and  so  we  shall  always  be  at  va- 
riance with  them.  In  short,  nothing  but  an  endless  succession  of 
discord  and  confusion  can  be  the  consequence.  Every  one  setting 
up  for  pre-eminence,  every  one  must  of  course  contribute  to  the 
general  state  of  anarchy  and  misery  which  will  pervade  the  com- 
munity. Such,  is  in  fact,  the  state  of  this  apostate  world  ;  and, 
but  for  divine  providence,  which  for  wise  ends  balances  all  human 
{rffairs,  causing  one  set  of  evils  to  counteract  the  influence  of  another, 


Chapter  111.]  OF  MORALITY.  33 

and    all   to  aQswer   ends   remote  from  the  inteDtion  of  the  per- 
petrators, it  mu.-^t  l>e  overset  by  its  own  disorders. 

To  regard  every  other  beiii}^,  created  or  uncreated,  only  for  our 
own  ^akes,  is  supreme  self-love;  and  instead  of  being  a  source  of 
virtue,  is  itself  abominable,  and  the  source  of  all  the  mischief  and 
misery  in  the  universe.  All  the  evils  just  enumerated  are  to  be  tra- 
ced to  this  principle, as  theircommon  parenl;noris  there  any  ground 
of  hope  that  it  will  ever  produce  effects  of  a  different  nature. 
Some  persons  have  talkcii  much  of"  self-love  ?"//jeHi7i^  into  benev- 
olence" Had  it  been  said  malevolence,  it  had  been  nearer  the 
truth  ;  for  it  is  contrary  to  all  experience  that  any  thing  should 
change  its  nature  by  becoming  more  mature.  No,  a  child  in 
knowledge  may  discern,  that,  if  ever  genuine  benevolence  exist  in 
the  breast  of  an  individual,  or  extend  its  healing  wings  over  a 
bleeding  world,  it  must  be  by  the  subversion  of  this  principle,  and 
by  the  prevalence  of  that  religion  which  teaches  us  to  love  God 
supremely,  ourselves  subonlinately,  and  our  fellow  creatures  as 
ourselves. 

'I'o  furnish  a  standard  of  morality,  some  of  our  adversaries  have 
had  recourse  to  the  laws  of  the  state  ;  avowing  them  to  be  the  rule 
or  measure  of  virtue.  Mr.  Hobbcs  maintained  that  The  civil  law 
%Das  the  sole  foundation  of  right  and  wrong  y  and  that  religion  had  no 
obligation  but  as  enjoined  ny  the  magistrate.  And  Lord  Boling- 
broke  often  writes  in  a  strain  nearly  similar,  disowning  any  other 
sanction  or  pen;Jty  by  which  obedience  to  the  law  of  nature  is 
enforced,  tlian  those  which  are  provided  by  the  laws  of  the  land.* 
But  this  rule  is  defective,  absurd,  contradictory,  and  subersive  of 
all  true  morality.  First,  It  is  grossly  defective.  This  is  justly 
represented  by  a  prophet  of  their  own.  "  It  is  a  narrow  notion  ot 
innocence,"  says  Seneca,  "  to  measure  a  man's  goodness  only  by 
the  law.  Of  how  much  larger  extent  is  the  rule  of  duty,  or  of  good 
offices,  than  that  of  legal  right?  How  many  things  are  there 
which  piety,  humanity,  liberality,  justice,  and  fidelity  require, 
which  yet  are  not  within  the  compass  of  the  public  statutes  ?"t 
♦Works,  Vol.  V.  p.  90. 
tin  Lfhnnd's  Advantages  and  Necessity  of  Revelation.  Vol.  II.  Part  IT 
Chap.  ill.  p.  42. 

Vol.   III.  h 


34  I'HE  STANDARD  [Part  f. 

Secondly,  It  is  absurd;  for  if  the  public  statutes  be  the  only  stand- 
ard of  right  and  wrong,  legislators  in  framing  them  could  be  under 
DO  law:  nor  is  it  possible  that  in  any  instance  they  should  have  enact- 
ed injustice.  Thirdly,  It  is  contradictory.  Human  laws,  wc 
all  know,  require  ditTerent  and  opposite  things  in  diflerent  nations; 
and  in  the  same  nation  at  different  times.  If  this  principle  be 
right,  it  is  right  for  Deists  to  be  persecuted  for  their  opinions  at 
one  period,  and  to  persecute  others  fortheirs  at  another.  Finally, 
It  IS  subersive  of  all  true  morality.  "  The  civil  laws,"  as  Dr.  Le- 
land  has  observed,  "  take  no  cognizance  of  secret  crimes,  and  pro- 
vide no  punishment  for  internal  bad  dispositions,  or  corrupt  affec- 
tions. A  man  may  be  safely  as  wicked  as  he  pleases,  on  this  prin- 
ple,  provided  he  can  manage  so  as  to  escape  punishment  from  the 
laws  of  his  country,  which  very  bad  men,  and  those  that  are  guilty 
of  great  vices,  easily  may,  and  frequently  do  evade. "^ 

Rossean  has  recourse  to  feelings  as  iiis  standard.  "  I  have  only 
to  consult  myself,''  he  says,  "  concerning  what  1  ought  to  do. 
All  that  I  feel  to  be  right  is  right.  Whatever  I  feel  to  be  wrong  is 
vrrong.  All  the  morality  of  our  actions  lies  in  the  judgment  we 
ourselves  form  of  them."*  By  this  rule  liis  conduct  through  life 
appears  to  have  been  directed  ;  a  rule  which,  if  universally 
regarded,  would  deluge  the  world  with  every  species  of  iniquity. 

But  that  on  which  our  opponents  insist  the  m.ost,  and  with  the 
greatest  show  of  argument,  is  the  law  and  light  of  nature.  This  is 
their  professed  rule  on  all  occasions  ;  and  its  praises  they  are 
continually  sounding.  I  have  no  desire  to  depreciate  the  light  of 
nature,  or  to  disparage  its  value  as  a  rule.  On  the  contrary,  I  con- 
sider it  as  occupying  an  important  place  in  the  divine  government.  ' 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  light  possessed  by  the  heathen  as 
being  derived  from  revelation,  1  feel  no  dituculty  in  acknowledging 
that  the  grand  law  which  they  are  unoer  is  that  of  nature.  Reve- 
lation itself  appears,  to  me,  so  to  represent  it  ;  holding  it  up  as  the 
rule  by  which  they  shall  be  judged,  and  declaring  its  dictates  to  be 
so  clear,  as  to  leave  them  tdiihout  excuse.]  Nature  and  scripture 
appear,  to  me,  to  be  as  'puch  in  harmony,  as  ?.Ioses  and  Christ; 
both  are  celebrated  in  the  same  rsalm.j 

*EmiliU8,  Vol.  I.  pp.  166—168.       1  Rom.  ii.  12—16,  \.  20.    t  Psa.  six. 


Cmaptfh  III.]  OF  MORAI.ITV.  3j 

Hy  the  light  of  nature,  liowcvrr,  I  (io  iiof  ino;in  tlioso  ideas 
wliicli  heathens  have  nclually  entoilaioed,  many  of  which  have 
been  darkness  ;  but  tliose  which  were  presented  lo  them  by  the 
works  of  creation,  and  whirh  tlioy  miu;ht  have  possessed,  had  they 
been  desirous  of  retaining  God  in  their  knowledge.  And  by  the 
ilictales  of  nature,  with  regard  to  right  and  wrong,  I  understand 
those  things  which  appear  to  the  mind  of  a  person  sincerely  disposed 
to  understand  and  practice  his  duty,  to  be  natural,  ft,  or  reason- 
able. There  is,  doubtless,  an  eternal  difference  between  right  and 
wrong;  and  this  diflerence,  in  a  vast  variety  of  instances,  is  mani- 
fest to  every  man  who  smcerely  and  imparli;dly  considers  it.  So 
manifest  have  the  power  and  Godhead  of  the  Creator  been  ren- 
dered in  every  age,  that  no  person  of  an  upright  disposition  could, 
through  mere  mistake,  fall  into  idolatry  or  impiety  ;  and  every 
one  who  has  continued  in  these  abominations  is  without  excuse. 
The  desire  also  whicli  every  human  being  feels  of  having  justice 
done  to  him  froni  all  other  persons  must  render  it  sufficiently  mani- 
fest to  his  judgment  that  he  ought  to  do  the  same  to  them  ;  and 
wherein  he  acts  otherwise,  his  conscience,  unless  it  be  seared  as 
with  a  hot  iron,  must  accuse  him. 

Hut  does  it  follow  from  hence  that  revelation  is  unnecessary  ^' 
Certainly  not.  It  is  one  thing  for  nature  to  afford  so  much  light 
in  matters  of  right  and  wrong,  as  to  leave  the  sinner  without 
excuse  ;  and  another  to  afford  him  any  well-grounded  hope  of 
forgiveness,  or  to  answer  his  difficulties  concerning  the  account 
which  something  within  him  says  he  must  hereafter  give  of  hit> 
present  conduct. 

Farther:  It  is  one  thing  lo  leave  sinners  without  excuse  in  sin, 
;\nd  another  thing  to  recover  them  from  it.  That  the  light  of 
nature  is  insufficient  for  the  latter,  is  demonstrated  by  melancholy 
tact.  Instead  of  returning  to  CJod  and  virtue,  those  nations  which 
have  possessed  the  highest  degrees  of  it  have  gone  farthor  and  fu- 
ther  into  immorality.  There  is  not  a  single  example  of  a  people 
of  their  own  accord,  returning  to  the  acknovvleilgment  of  the  true 
God,  or  extricating  themselves  from  the  most  irrational  species  of 
idolatry,  or  desisting  from  the  most  odious  kinds  of  vice.  Those 
nations  where  science  diffused  a  more  than  ordinary  lustre,  were 


36  THE  STANDARD  [Part  I. 

as  superstitious,  and  as  wicked  as  the  most  barbarous  ;  and  in  niany 
instances  exceeded  them.  It  was,  I  doubt  not,  from  a  close 
observation  of  the  different  efficacy  of  nature  and  scripture,  that 
the  writer  of  the  nineteenth  Psalm,  (a  Psalm  which  Mr.  Paine  pre- 
tends to  admire,)  after  having  given  a  just  tribute  of  praise  to  the 
former,  affirmed  of  the  latter,  The  law  of  Jehovah  is  perfect,  con- 
verting the  soul. 

Again  :  It  is  one  thing  for  that  which  is  natural,  fit,  or  reasona- 
ble, in  matters  of  duty,  to  approve  itself  to  a  mind  sincerely  dispo- 
sed to  understand  and  practice  it,  and  another  to  approve  itself  to 
a  mind  of  an  opposite  description.  The  judgments  of  men  con- 
cerning the  dictates  of  nature  are  greatly  influenced  by  their  pre- 
vailing inclinations.  If  under  certain  circumstances  they  teel 
prompted  to  a  particular  course  of  conduct,  they  will  be  apt  to 
consider  that  incitement  as  a  dictate  of  nature,  though  it  may  be  no 
other  than  corrupt  propensity  :  and  thus,  while  the  law  of  nature 
is  continually  in  their  mouth,  their  principles,  as  well  as  their  con- 
duct, are  a  continual  violation  of  it.  How  was  it  that,  notwith- 
standing the  light  of  nature  shone  round  the  old  philosophers,  their 
minds,  in  matters  of  morality,  were  dark  as  night,  and  their  pre- 
cepts, in  many  instances,  full  of  impurity  ?  Did  nature  inspire 
Plato  to  teach  the  doctrine  of  a  community  of  wives  ;  Lycurgus  to 
tolerate  dextrous  thieving;  Solon  to  allow  of  sodomy  ;  Seneca  to 
encourage  drunkenness,  and  suicide  ;  and  almost  all  of  them  to 
declare  in  favour  of  lewdness?*  No,  verily  ;  it  is  a  perversion  of 
language  to  call  the  principles  of  such  men  the  dictates  of  nature  ; 
they  are  unnatural  and  abominable  ;  as  contrary  to  reason  as  to 
religion. 

It  is  true,  what  is  called  nature,  by  modern  Infidels,  is  not  quite 
so  gross  as  the  above  ;  but  it  falls  very  little  short  of  it.  So  far 
as  relates  to  the  encouragement  of  theft,  and  perhaps  of  unnatural 
crimes,  they  would  disavow  ;  and  for  this  we  are  indebted  to 
Christianity  :  but  as  to  fornication  and  adultery,  they  are  not  a 
whit  behind  theif"  predecessors.  Lord  Herbert,  the  father  of  the 
English  Deists,  and  whose  writings  are  far  more  sober  than  the 
generality  of  those  who  have  come  after  him,  apologizes  for  lewd- 

*  Pee  Leland's  Advantages  and  Necessity  of  Revelation,  Vol.  II.  pp.  147, 50, 
59,  210,  213. 


fuArTFRlII.J  OF  MORALITY.  37 

ness,  ill  ctrtain  cases,  as  resembling  thiist  in  a  dropsy,  and  inac- 
tivity in  a  lethargy.*     Lord  Bolingbroke  unbliishiii'xly  insinuate>;, 
that  the  only  consideration  that  can   reconcile  a  man    to  contine 
himself  by  marria^^e  to  one   woman,   and  a   woman  to  one  man,  is 
this,  that  nothing  hinders  but  that  they  may  indulge  their  desires 
with  others.!     This   is   the  same  as  accusing  the   whole    human 
race  of  incontinoncv,  and  denying  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as 
conjugal   fidelity  ;  a  plain   proof  that  whoever  was  clear  of  this 
indecent  charge,  Lord  Bolingbroke  was  not.      Mr.  Ilume,  who  has 
written   a  volume,  on  the    principles  of  morality,  scruples   not   to 
stigmatize  self-denial  as  a  "  monkish  virtue  ;"  and  adopts  the  opin- 
ion of  a   French  writer,   tliat  "  adultery  mu'St    be  practised  if  we 
would  obtain  all  the  advantages  of  life  ;  that  female  infidelity,  when 
known,  is  a  small  thing,  and  when  unknown,   nothing."     These 
writers  will,  on  some  occasions,  descant  in   liivour  of  chastity,  as 
being  conducive  to   health  and  reputation  ;  but   on  others    they 
seldom  fail  to  apologize  for  the  contrary,  and  that  under  the  pre- 
tence of  indidging  the  dictates  of  nature.     Yet   the  same   things 
might  bo  alleged   in  behalf  of  oppression,  revenge,  theft,  duelling, 
ambitious   war,  and  a   thousand   other  vices  which  desolate  the 
■earth  ;  they  are  practices  which   men,  placed   in  certain  circum- 
stances, will  feel  themselves  prompted  to  commit :  nor  is  there  u 
vice  that  can  be  named  but  what  would  admit  of  such  an  apology. 
Finally  :   It  is  one  thing  for  the  light  of  nature  to  be   so  clear  a>. 
to  render  idolatry,  impiety,  and  injustice,  inexcusable  ;  and  another 
thing  to  render  the  rvhole  will  of  our  Creator  evident,  and  in  the 
most  advantageous  manner.      If  a  person,   possessed  of  only   thr 
light  of  nature,  were  ever  so  sincerely  desirous  of  knowing  God  ; 
or  grieved  for  the  sins  of  which  his  conscience   accused  him  ;  01 
attached  to  the  holy,  the  just,  and  the  good  ;  or  disposed  to  obey 
his  Creator's  will  if  he  did  but  understand  it  ;  though  he  should 
be  in  no  danger  of  confounding  the  dictates  of  nature  with  those  of 
corrupt  propensity,  yet  he  must  labour  under  great  disadvantages  ; 
which,  allowing  they  might  not  affect  his  eternal  state,  yet  would 
greatly  injure   his   present  peace   and  usefulness.     To  illustrate 

'  Lcland's  Review,  &c.  Vol.  I. Lot.  I.  t  Works,  Vol.  V.  p.  167. 


38  THE  STANDARD   '  L^ ^RT  F. 

this  remark,  let  us  suppose  the  inhabitants  of  a  province  to  throw 
off  the  government  of  a  just  and  lawful  prince.  Being  once  enga- 
ged, they  may  feel  themselves  impelled  to  go  forward.  They  may 
choose  new  rulers,  and  use  all  possible  means  to  efiface  every  sign 
and  memorial  of  the  authority  of  their  ancient  sovereign.  They 
may  even  labour  to  forget,  and  teach  their  children  to  forget,  if 
possible,  that  there  ever  was  such  a  character  in  being,  to  whom 
they  owed  allegiance.  Yet,  after  all,  there  may  be  certain  traces 
and  memorials  of  his  government  which  it  is  not  in  their  power  to 
efface.  Yea,  there  may  be  continu^.d  instances  of  forbearance  and 
clemency,  which,  in  spite  of  all  their  efforts,  will  bear  witness  of 
his  goodness  and  just  authority  over  them.  Thus  it  was  that  God, 
while  he  suffered  all  nations  to  rt;atk  in  their  own  raays,  nevertheless 
LEFT  NOT  HIMSELF  WITHOUT  A  WITNESS,  in  that  he  did  good,  and 
trave  them  rniti  from  heaven,  and  fruitful  seasons, filling  their  hearts 
with  food  and  gladness.  Rut,  as  the  memorials  of  just  authority, 
in  the  one  case,  though  sufficient  to  leave  the  rebellious  without 
excuse,  would  not  contain  a  fidl  expression  of  the  prince's  will, 
nor  be  conveyed  in  so  advantageous  a  manner  as  that  in  which  he 
treated  his  professed  subjects  ;  so  the  light  afforded  by  the  works 
of  nature  and  the  continued  goodness  of  God,  in  the  other,  though 
sufficient  to  leave  the  world  without  excuse,  does  not  express  his 
Zi'hole  will,  nor  convey  what  it  does  express  so  advantageously  as 
by  revelation.  And,  as  an  individual  residing  in  the  midst  of  the 
rebellious  province,  whose  heart  might  relent,  and  who  might  long 
to  return  to  his  allegiance,  would  be  under  inexpressible  disadvan- 
tages, so  it  must  necessarily  be  with  a  heathen  whose  desire  should 
be  towards  the  God  against  whom  he  had  sinned. 

The  amount  is,  that  modern  unbelievers  have  no  standard  of 
morals,  except  it  be  their  own  inclinations.  Morality  with  them 
jsany  thing  or  nothing,  as  convenience  requires.  On  some  occa- 
sons  they  will  praise  that  of  Jesus  Christ  :  but  ere  we  can  have 
time  to  ask  them.  Why  then  do  you  not  submit  to  it  ?  they  are 
employed  in  opposing  it.  Attend  to  their  general  declamations  in 
favour  of  virtue,  and  you  will  he  ready  to  imagine  they  are  its 
warmest  friends  :  but  follow  them  up,  and  observe  their  exposi- 
tion of  particular  precepts,  and  you  will  be  convinced  that  they 


roAPTKR  III.]  OF  MORM.irv.  39 

arc  its  decided  enemies  ;  applauding  in  the  gross  tliat  which  they 
are  ever  undermining  in  detail. 

Hy  the  foolish  and  discordant  accounts  wiiich  these  writere 
•rive  of  morality,  it  should  secMU  that  they  know  not  what  it  is. 
Every  new  speculator  is  dissatisfied  with  the  detinition  of  his 
l>redecessor,  and  endeavours  to  mend  it.  "  \''irtuc,"  says  Lord 
>haftesbury,  "is  a  sense  of  beauty,  of  harmony,  of  order,  and 
proportion,  an  affection  towards  the  whole  of  our  kind,  or  spe- 
cies." "  It  is,"  says  Lord  Bolinghroke,  '*  only  the  love  of  our- 
selvcH.^"  "  It  is  every  thing  that  tends  to  preserve  the  perfect 
man,"  says  Volney  ;  and  as  "  good  reputation"  has  this  tenden- 
cy, it  is,  in  his  account,  *•  a  moral  good."*  '*  It  is  whatever  is 
useful  in  society,"  says  Mr.  Hume  ;  and  as  "health,  cleanliness, 
facility  of  expression,  broad  shoulders,  and.  taper  legs,"  are  of 
use,  they  are  to  be  reckoned  among  the  virtues.  To  this  might 
be  added,  a  large  portion  of  effrontery,  as  the  last  named  writer 
assures  us,  (it  may  be  from  his  own  experience,)  that  "  nothing 
carries  a  man  through  the  world  like  a  true,  genuine  natural  im- 
pudence."* Mr.  Paine  brings  up  the  rear,  and  informs  us,  "  It  is 
doing  justice,  loving  mercy,  and  ....  endeavouring  to  make  our 
follow  creatures  happy."  Oh  Paine  !  had  you  but  for  once  suf- 
fered yourself  to  be  taught  by  a  Prophet,  and  have  quoted  his 
words  as  they  stand,  you  would,  undoubtedly,  have  borne  away 
the  palm  :  but  you  had  rather  write  nonsense  than  say  any  thing 
III  favour  of  godliness. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  amidst  all  the  discordance  of  these 
writers,  they  agree  in  excluding  the  Divine  being  from  their  the- 
•  •ry  of  morals.  They  think  after  their  manner  ;  but  God  is  not 
in  all  their  thoughts.  In  comparin;;  the  Chrietian  doctrine  of  mo- 
rality, the  sum  of  which  is  love,  with  their  atheistical  Jargon,  one 
seiMus  to  hear  the  voice  of  the  Aluiighty  saying,  Who  is  this  that 
dnrkrncth  counsel  H'ith  K'ords  7i:ith(jul  knoxiledge  F  Fear  God,  and 
krrj)  his  coinmundnienls ;  for  this  is  the  whole  of  man. 

*  Law  •)!  Nature,  p.   17. 

t  Enquiry  concerning  the  priuciplei  of  .'\!or;ih,  f  (J,  7,  8.  Essays  Mora! 
:\u(l  Political,  Essay  11!    p.  Ij. 


40  THE  STANDARD  OF  MORALITY.  [Part  I. 

The  words  of  scripture  are  spirit  and  life.  They  are  the  lan- 
guage of  love.  Every  exhorlation  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  is 
impregnated  with  this  spirit.  Let  the  reader  turn  to  the  12th 
chapter  to  the  Romans,  for  an  example,  and  read  it  carefully ;  let 
him  find,  if  he  can,  any  thing,  in  the  purest  part  of  the  writings 
of  Deists,  that  is  worthy  of  being  compared  with  it.  No  ;  vir- 
tue itself  is  no  longer  virtue  in  their  hands.  It  loses  its  charms 
when  they  affect  to  embrace  it.  Their  touch  is  that  of  the  cold 
hand  of  death.  The  most  lovely  object  is  deprived  by  it  of  life 
and  beauty,  and  reduced  to  a  shrivelled  mass  of  inactive  formahty. 


CIIAPTKU  IV. 

HKISTIAMTY    FURNISHES    MOTIVES    TO    A    VIRTUOUS    LIKK;    WUICM 
1>EIS.M    F.ITHER    REJECTS,    OR    ATTEMPTS    TO    UNrJKRMIXr.. 


So  long  as  our  adversaries  profess  a  regard  to  virtue,  and,  willi 
Lord  Bolingbroke,*  acknowledge  that  "  the  gospel  is  in  all  cases 
one  continued  lesson  of  the  strictest  morality,  of  justice,  of  benev- 
olence, and  of  universal  charity,"  they  must  allow  tliose  to  be 
the  best  principles  which  furnish  the  most  effectual  motives  for 
reducing  it  to  practice. 

Now,  there  is  not  a  doctrine  in  the  whole  compass  of  Chris- 
tianity but  what  is  improveablc  to  this  purpose.  It  is  a  grand  pe 
culiarity  of  the  gospel,  that  none  of  its  principles  are  merely  spec- 
ulative :  each  is  pregnant  with  a  practical  use.  Nor  docs  the 
discovery  of  it  require  any  extraordinary  degree  of  ingenuity: 
real  Christians,  however  weak  as  to  their  natural  capacities,  have 
always  been  taught  by  the  gospel  of  Christ,  that  dcni/ing  ungod- 
liness, and  "worldly  lusts,  thejj  shoidd  live  sobrrhi,  ri'j:lileniish/,  and 
godly  in  the  present  world. 

Ancient  philosophers  have  taught  many  thing-;  in  favour  of  mo- 
rality, so  far  at  least  as  respects  justice  and  goodness  towards  our 
fellow-creatures';  but  where  are  the  motives  by  which  the  minds 
of  the  people,  or  even  their  own  minds,  have  been  moved  to  a 
compliance  with  them?  They  framed  a  curious  machine;  bu( 
who  among  them  could  discover  a  power  to  work  if  ?  What  prin- 
ciples have  appeared  in  the  world,  under  the  names  either  of  phi- 
losophy or  religion,  that  can  bear  a  comparison  with  the  follow- 
mg  ?     God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  nnbj-hegoltrn  Son 

♦  Work'.  Yah  V.  j..  ins; 
VoL.lH.  6 


4J  MOTIVES  TO  [Fart  I. 

that  whosoever  helieveth  in  him  should  not  perish,  hut  have  everlast- 
ing life. — Herein  is  love,  not  that  ice  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved 
us,  and  sent  his  So7i  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.  Beloved,  if 
God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another. — Let  all  bitter- 
ness, andicrath,  and  anger,  and  clamour,  and  evil-speaking,  he  put 
away  from  you,  with  all  malice  :  and  be  ye  kind  one  to  another, 
tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even  as  God  for  Christ's 
sake  hath  forgiven  you. — Be  ye  therefore  followers  (or  imitators) 
of  God,  as  dear  children  ;  and  raalk  in  love,  as  Christ  also  hath 
loved  us,  and  hath  given  himself  for  us,  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice 
to  God  of  a  sweet-smelling  savour. — Ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a 
royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people ;  that  ye  should 
show  forth  the  praises  of  him  ivho  hath  called  you  out  of  darkness  into 
his  marvellous  light. — Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  sep- 
arate, saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing  ;  and  I  will 
receive  you,  and  ivill  be  a  Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons 
and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty. — Having  therefore  these 
2Jromises,  dearly  beloved,  let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all filthiness 
of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God. 
— If  there  he  therefore  any  consolation  in  Christ,  if  any  com- 
fort of  love,  if  any  fellowship  of  the  Spirit,  if  any  bow- 
els and  mercies,  fulfil  ye  my  joy  : — be  of  one  accord,  of  one 
mind.  Let  nothing  be  done  through  strife  or  vain  glory ;  but  in 
lowliness  of  mind  let  each  esteem  other  better  than  themselves.  Dear- 
ly beloved,  I  beseech  you  as  strangei's  and  pilgrims,  abstain  from 
fleshly  lusts,  which  war  against  the  sad  :  having  your  conversation 
honest  among  the  Gentiles  :  that  whereas  they  speak  against  you  as 
evil  doers,  they  may  by  your  good  works,  which  they  shall  behold, 
glorify  God  in  the  day  of  visitation.  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price  : 
therefore  glorify  God  in  your  body,  and  in  your  spirits  which  are 
God^s. — The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us ;  because  we  thus  judge 
that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead:  and  that  he  died  for 
all,  that  they  which  live  should  not  henceforth  live  unto  tfiemselves, 
but  unto  him  who  died  for  them,  and  rose  again. — The  day  of  the 
Lord  zoill  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night  •  in  the  xvhich  the  heavens  shall 
pass  away  ii'ith  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with 
fervent  heat ;  the  earth  also,  and  the  works  that  arc  therein,  shall 


»:hai'TF.r  IV.]  V  MRTUOUSLIFt.  4.; 

lie  burnt  vp.  Seeing  then  that  all  these  things  shall  be  di^sulvcd, 
Tihal  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be,  in  alt  holy  conversation  and 
godliness ;  looking  for,  and  hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of 
God! — Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown. 
— To  him  that  overcomcth  will  I  grant  to  sit  7i.Hth  me  in  my  throne, 
even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  don-n  with  my  Father  in  his 
throne. 

These  are  motives  by  which  Cliristians  in  every  as;e,  have  been 
induced  to  practice  that  moraUty  which,  while  writing  against 
Christianity,  Paine,  Bolingbroke,  and  many  others  have  been  com- 
pelled to  applaud.  But  tho  far  greater  part  of  them  are  rejected 
by  Deists ;  and  what  will  they  substitute,  of  eijual  efficacy,  in 
their  place  ?  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us,  but  what  have 
they  to  constrain  them.''  Will  self-love,  or  the  beauty  or  utility  of 
virtue  answer  the  purpose  ?  Let  history  and  observation  deter- 
mine. 

It  may  be  alleged,  however,  that  Deists  do  not  reject  the  wholt 
of  these  important  motives  ;  for  that  some,  at  least,  admit  the 
doctrine  of  a  future  life,  which,  with  the  acknowledgment  of  one 
living  and  true  God,  may  be  thought  sufficient  for  all  the  purposes 
of  moralit}'. 

That  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life  is  of  great  importance  in  the 
moral  system,  is  allowed  ;  but  the  greatest  truth,  if  dissevered 
from  other  truths  of  equal  importance,  will  be  divested  of  its  en- 
ergy. As  well  might  a  hand  dissevered  from  the  body  be  repre- 
sented as  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  labour,  as  one  or  two  uncon- 
nected principles  for  the  purposes  of  morality.  This  is  actually 
the  case  in  the  present  instance.  The  doctrine  of  a  future  life, 
as  held  by  Christians,  has  stimulated  them  to  labour  and  suffer 
without  intermission.  FVom  a  respect  to  this  recompense  of  reward, 
a  kingdom  had  been  refused,  where  the  acceptance  of  it  would 
have  interferetl  with  a  good  conscience.  Yea,  life  itself  has  been 
sacrificed,  and  that  not  in  a  few,  but  in  innumerable  instances, 
where  it  could  not  be  retained  but  at  the  expense  of  truth  and  up- 
rightness. But  is  it  thus  among  Deists  ?  Does  the  doctrine  of  a 
future  life  as  held  by  them,  produce  any  such  effects  ?  When  was 
it  known,  or  heard,  that  thcv  sacrificed  anv  thing  for  this,  or  anv 


4-1  MOTIVES  TO  [Part.  I. 

other  principle  of  amoral  nature  ?  Who  among;  them  ever  thought 
of  such  a  thing  ;  or  who  expected  it  at  their  ha  ds  ? 

But  this  is  not  all :  ■  •.  r;  s  such  a  connexion  in  truth,  that  if 
one  part  of  it  be  given  up,  it  will  render  us  less  friendly  towards 
other  partS)  and  so  destroy  their  efficacy.  This  also  is  actually 
the  case  in  the  present  instance.  Our  adversaries  do  not  cordial- 
ly embrace  even  this  truth  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  are  continually 
undermining  it,  and  rendering  it  of  no  effect.  Lord  Herbert,  it  is 
true,  considered  it  as  an  essential  article  of  natural  religion  ;  and 
it  was  his  opinion,  that  he  could  scarcely  be  accounted  a  reasona- 
ble creature  who  denied  it :  but  this  is  far  from  being  the  case 
with  later  deistical  writers  ;  the  greater  part  of  whom  either  deny 
it,  or  represent  it  as  a  matter  of  doubt.  Some  of  them  disown 
every  principle  by  which  it  is  supported,  and  others  go  so  far  as 
to  hold  it  up  to  ridicule,  labouring  withal  to  prove  the  hope  of  it 
unfriendly  to  the  disinterested  love  of  virture.  Volney,  in  his 
Law  of  Nature,  or  Catechism  for  French  Citizens,  says  nothing 
about  it.  Paine  just  touches  upon  it,  in  his  Age  of  Reason,  by  in- 
forming us  that  "  he7jo/?es  for  happiness  beyond  this  life  :"  but, 
as  happiness  has  its  counterpart,  and  stands  upon  the  general  doc- 
trine of  retribution,  he  is  afraid  to  say  he  believes  it.  It  must  be 
reduced  to  a  mere  matter  of  "  probability,"  lest  the  thoughts  of  it 
should  damp  him  in  his  present  pursuits,  and  render  him  *'  the 
slave  of  terror."*  Bolingbroke,  though  he  acknowledges  its  anti- 
quity, and  great  utility  in  promoting  virtue,  yet  represents  it  as  a 
"mere  invention  of  philosophers,  and  legislators,"  and  as  being 
"  originally  an  hypothesis,  and  which  may,  therefore,  be  a  vulgar 
error."  "  Reason,"  he  says,  "  will  neither  affirm  nor  deny  a  fu- 
ture state."  By  this  the  reader  might  be  led  to  expect  that  this 
writer  was  neither  for  it  nor  against  it ;  yet  the  whole  of  his  rea- 
sonings are  directed  to  undermine  it.j  Hume,  like  the  writer  last 
mentioned,  acknowledges  the  utility  of  the  doctrine,  but  questions 
its  truth.  He  would  not  have  people  disabused,  or  delivered  from 
such  a  prejudice,  because  it  would  free  them  from  one  restraint 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  1.       Part  II.  pp.  100,  101. 
t  Works,  Vol.  V. 


Chapter  IV.]  A   \  lllTLOL  s  Liriv  4,; 

upon  their  passions.  Any  person  who  should  undertake  this 
work,  he  nllows,  wouUI  be  a  had  citizen  ;  yet  ho  miglil,  for  aught 
he  kno»vs,  be  a  good  re;!Soner.*  Shaftesbury  employs  all  his  wit 
and  satire  in  endeavouring  to  raise  a  laugh  at  the  very  idea,  rep- 
resenting the  heathen  world  as  very  hap[)y  till  Christianity  arose 
and  teazcd  them  about  an  hereafter.  "  A  new  sort  of  policy,"  he 
says,  "  which  extends  itself  to  another  world,  and  considers  the 
future  lives  and  happiness  of  man  rather  thnn  the  present,  has  made 
us  leap  beyond  the  bounds  of  natural  humanity,  and  out  of  a 
supernatural  charity  has  taught  us  the  way  of  plaguing  one  another 
most  devoutly.''  t 

Lord  Shaftesbury's  wit  may  very  well  be  passed  by,  as  being 
what  it  is  :  in  connexion  with  the  foregoing  quotations,  it  suffices 
to  show  us  what  eflicacy  the  doctrines  of  a  future  life,  as  held  by 
Deists,  may  be  expected  to  possess.  But  this  writer  is  not  con- 
tented with  raillery:  he  must  also  attempt  to  reason  against  the  doc- 
trine ;  contending  that  it  has  a  pertucious  inlluence  on  the  morals 
of  men  ;  that  it  is  a  mercenary  principle,  and  opposed  to  the  dis- 
interested love  of  virtue,  for  its  own  sake.  "  The  principle  ot 
self-love,"  he  observes,  "which  is  naturally  so  prevailing  in  us, 
is  improved  and  made  stronger  by  the  exercise  of  the  passions  on 
a  subject  of  more  extended  interest :  and  there  may  be  reason  to 
apprehend  that  a  temper  of  this  kind  will  extend  itself  through  all 
the  parts  of  life.  And  this  has  a  tendency  to  create  a  stricter  at- 
tention to  self-good  and  private  interest,  and  must  insensibly  di- 
minish the  alVection  towards  public  good,  or  the  interest  of  society, 
and  introduce  a  certain  narrowness  of  spirit,  which  is  observable  in 
the  devout  persons  and  zealots  of  almost  every  religious  persua- 
.«ion."  + 

This  ol)jection,  the  reader  will  recollect,  is  in  direct  contradic- 
tion to  the  principles  of  Bolingbroke,  and,  it  may  be  added,  ol 
\  olney,  and  other  deistical  writers,  who  m  intain  self-love  to  be 
the  origin  of  virtuous  affection.     Some  Christim  writers,  in  aii- 

•  Pliilojophical  Essays, p.  2JI.  t  Characteristic",  \ri!.  I.  p.  1». 

tf'liaractpri.-lics,   \'ol.  II.  p.   "iG. 


46  MOTIVES  TO  [Part  1. 

swering  it,  have  given  up  the  doctrine  of  disinterested  love,  allow- 
ing that  all  religious  aflection  is  to  be  traced  to  the  love  which  we 
bear  to  ourselves,  as  its  first  principle.  To  me,  this  appears  no 
other  than  betraying  the  truth,  and  ranking  Christianity  with  every 
species  of  apostacy  and  false  religion  which  have  at  any  time  pre- 
vailed in  the  world.  A  clear  idea  of  the  nature  of  self-love,  if  I 
mistake  not,  will  enable  us  to  determine  this  question  ;  and  to  an- 
swer the  deistical  objection  without  rendering  Christianity  a  mer- 
cenary system. 

Every  man  may  be  considered  either  singly,  or  connectedly  ' 
either  as  a  being  by  himself,  or  as  a  link  in  a  certain  chain  of  beings. 
Under  one  or  other  of  these  views  every  man  considers  himself, 
while  pursuing  his  own  interest.  If  the  former,  this  is  to  make 
himself  the  ultimate  end  of  his  actions,  and  to  love  all  other  beings, 
created  or  uncreated,  only  as  they  subserve  his  interest  or  his  pleas- 
ure :  this  is  private  self-love  :  this  is  mean  and  mercenary,  and 
what  we  commonly  understand  by  the  term  selfishness.  But  if  the 
latter,  there  is  nothing  mean  or  selfish  in  it.  He  who  seeks  his 
own  well-being  in  connexion  with  the  general  good,  seeks  it  as  he 
ought  to  do.  No  man  is  required  directly  to  oppose  his  own  wel- 
fare, though,  in  some  instances,  he  may  be  required  to  sacrifice  it 
for  the  general  good.  Neither  is  it  necessary  that  he  should  be 
indifferent  towards  it.  Reason,  as  well  as  scripture,  requires  us 
to  love  ourselves  as  we  love  our  neighbour.  To  this  may  be  ad- 
ded, every  man  is  not  only  a  link  in  the  chain  of  intelligent  beings, 
and  so  deserving  of  some  resard  from  himself,  as  well  as  from 
others,  but  every  man's  person,  family,  and  connexions,  and  still 
more  the  concerns  of  his  soul,  are,  as  it  were,  his  own  vine3^ard, 
over  the  interests  of  which  it  is  his  peculiar  province  to  exercise 
a  watchful  care.  Only  let  the  care  of  himself  and  his  immediate 
connexions  be  in  subserviency  to  the  general  good,  and  there  is 
nothing  mercenary  in  it. 

I  need  not  multiply  arguments  to  prove  lliat  the  doctrine  of 
rexsi'ards  does  not  necessarily  tend  to  encourage  a  mercenary  spir- 
it, or  that  it  is  consistent  with  the  disinterested  love  of  virtue. 
Lord  Shaftesbury  himself  has  acknowledged  this  :  "  If  by  the  hope 
of  reward,"  ho  savs,  "be  understood  the  love  and  desire  of  vir- 


CHAFTtR  IV.J  A  MItTLOUS  Lll  1..  47 

tuous  enjoyment,  or  of  the  very  practice  or  cxcrase  o(' virtue  in 
another  life,  the  expectation  or  hope  of  this  kind  is  so  far  from 
being  derogatory  to  virtue,  that  it  is  an  evidence  of  our  loving  it 
the  more  sincerly,  and  for  its  own  sake."*  This  single  conces- 
sion contains  an  answer  to  all  which  his  lordship  has  advanced  on 
the  subject  :  for  the  rewards  promised  in  the  gospel  are  all  exact- 
ly of  the  description  which  he  mentions.  It  is  true,  they  are  often 
represented  under  the  images  of  earthly  things  ;  but  this  does  not 
prove  that,  in  themselves  thoy  are  not  pure  and  spiritual.  That 
there  is  nothing  in  them  adapted  to  gratify  a  mercenary  spirit,  the 
following  observations  will  render  plain  to  the  meanest  capacity. 

Fii-bt :  The  nature  of  heavenly  enjoyments  is  such  as  to  admit  of 
no  monopoly,  and  consequently  to  leave  no  room  for  the  exercise 
of  private  self-love.  Like  the  beams  of  the  sun,  they  are  equally 
adapted  to  give  joy  to  a  world  as  to  an  individual :  nay,  so  far  is  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  the  participants  from  diminishing  the 
<{uantum  of  happiness  possessed  by  each  individual,  that  il  has  a 
tendency  to  increase  it.  The  interest  of  one  is  the  interest  of  all  ; 
and  the  interest  of  all  extends  to  every  one. 

Secondly  :  The  sum  of  heavenly  enjoyments  consists  in  a  holy 
likeness  to  God,  and  in  the  eternal  enjoyment  of  his  favour.!  But 
holy  likeness  to  God  is  the  same  thing  as  "  the  very  practice  or 
exercise  of  virtue,"  the  hope  of  which.  Lord  Shaftesbury  acknowl- 
edges, "  is  so  far  from  being  derogatory  to  it,  that  it  is  an  evidence 
of  our  loving  it  the  more  sincerely,  and  for  its  own  sake."  And 
as  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  divine  favour,  a  proper  pursuit  of  this 
object,  instead  of  being  at  variance  with  disinterested  affection, 
clearly  iiuplia  it  ;  for  no  man  can  truly  desire  the  favour  of  God 
as  his  chief  good,  without  a  proportionate  esteem  of  his  character, 
and  that  for  its  own  excellency.  It  is  impossible  that  the  favour  of 
any  being  whose  character  we  disapprove  should  be  sought  as  our 
chief  good,  in  preference  to  every  other  object  in  the  universe. 
But  a  cordial  approbation  of  the  divine  character  is  the  same  thine; 
as  a  disinterested  affection  to  virtue. 

*  Characteristics.  Vol.  [1.  pp.  03,  ^•i^,.  +  1  .Jo!iniii.2.     Rev.  xxi.  3,  4. 


tt;  MOTIVES  TO  [Part  I. 

Thirdly  :  The  only  method  by  which  the  rewards  of  the  gospel 
are  attainable,  faith  in  Christ,  secures  the  exercise  of  disinterested 
and  enlarged  virtue.  No  man  has  any  warrant,  from  the  scrip- 
tures, to  expect  an  interest  in  the  promises  of  the  gospel,  unless  he 
cordially  acquiesce  m  his  mediation.  But  to  acquiesce  in  this  is 
to  acquiesce  in  the  holy  government  of  God,  which  it  was  designed 
to  glorify  ;  to  feel  and  acknowledge  that  we  deserved  to  have  been 
made  sacrifices  to  divine  displeasure  ;  to  forego  all  claim  or  hope 
of  mercy  from  every  selfish  consideration  ;  and  to  be  willing  to 
receive  forgiveness  as  an  act  of  mere  grace,  and  along  with  the 
chief  of  sinners.  In  fine,  to  acquiesce  in  this  is  to  be  of  one  heart 
with  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  which,  our  adversaries  themselves 
being  judges,  is  the  same  thing  as  to  be  filled  with  devotedness  to 
God  and  benevolence  to  men  ;  and  this,  if  any  thing  deserves  that 
name,  is  true,  disinterested,  and  enlarged  virtue. 

It  is  very  possible,  that  the  objections  which  are  made  by  this 
writer,  as  well  as  by  Mr.  Paine  and  others,  against  the  doctrine  of 
rewards,  as  being  servile  and  mercenary,  may,  after  all,  in  reality 
be  against  their  counterpart .  It  does  not  appear  to  be  "  the  hope 
of  happiness  beyond  this  life"  that  excites  their  disgust,  though  the 
nature  ot  the  Christian's  happiness  might  be  disagreeable  to  them  ; 
but  the  fear  of  being  "called  to  account  for  the  manner  in  which 
they  have  lived  in  this  world.''  This  it  is  which  even  the  daring 
author  of  The  Age  of  Reason  cannot  endure  to  consider  as  a  cer- 
tainty, as  the  thought  of  it  would  render  him  "  the  slave  of  terror." 
Yet,  as  though  he  would  not  have  it  thought  that  the  dread  of  futu- 
rity rendered  him  affraid  of  believing  it,  he  alleges  another  reason  : 
•'our  belief,  on  this  principle,"  he  says,  "  would  have  no  merit, 
and  our  best  actions  no  virtue."*  In  order  then  to  our  actions 
being  virtuous,  it  is  necessary,  it  seems,  that  we  be  under  no  law 
but  that  of  our  own  inclination  ;  and  this  will  be  loving  virtue  for 
9  ts  own  sake.  This  is  at  once  shaking  off  the  divine  authority; 
whicli  if  it  could  be  accomplished,  might  be  very  agreeable  to 
some   men  ;  and  if  with  tliis  they  could  get  fairly    rid  of  a  judg- 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Pari  II.  pp.  100, 101. 


Chapter  IV]  A  VIRTUOUS  LIFE.  49 

merit  to  come,  it  might  be  still  more  agreeable  ;  but  alas,  if  they 
"•hould  be  mistaken  I 

It  is  a  fact,  that  the  passions  of  hope  antl  fear  are  planted  in  our 
nature  by  Him  who  made  us  ;  and  it  may  l)e  presumed  they  are 
not  planted  there  in  vain.  The  proper  exercise  of  the  former 
has,  1  conceive,  been  proved  to  be  consistent  with  the  purest  and 
most  disinterested  love  ;  and  the  same  thine;  is  provoable  of  the 
latter.  The  hope  and  fear  against  which  these  writers  declaim 
are  those  of  a  slave  ;  and  where  love  is  absent,  these,  it  is  granted, 
are  the  only  elTects  which  the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments will  profluce.  But  even  here  they  have  their  use.  Ter- 
ror is  the  <;rand  principle  by  which  vicious  minds  are  kept  in  awe. 
Without  this  their  licentiousness  would  be  intolerable  to  society. 
It  is  not,  however,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  restraint  that  threaten- 
ings  are  exhibited,  but  to  express  the  displeasure  of  God  against  all 
unrighteousness  and  ungodliness  of  men,  and  his  resolution  to  pun- 
ish them.  Some  are  hereby  taught  the  evil  of  their  ways  to  a 
good  purpose,  and  all  are  fairly  warned,  and  their  persererance  in 
sin  is  rendered  inexcusable. 

Before  our  adversaries  object  to  this,  they  should  show  the  im- 
propriety of  human  laws  being  accompanied  with  penalties.  Let 
them  furnish  us  with  a  system  of  government  in  which  men  may  be 
guilty  of  crimes  without  fear  of  being  called  to  account  for  them; 
and  in  which  those  who  are  enemies  to  virtue  are  to  be  governed 
by  merely  the  love  of  it.  If  it  be  improper  to  threaten  sinners,  it 
is  improper  to  punish  them  ;  and  if  it  be  improper  to  punish  them, 
V  it  is  improper  for  moral  government  to  bo  exercised.  But  if  it  be  thus 
in  the  government  of  God,  there  is  no  good  reason  to  be  given  why 
it  should  not  be  the  same  in  human  governments  ;  that  is,  there  is 
no  good  reason  why  servants,  unless  they  choose  to  do  otherwise, 
should  not  disobey  their  masters,  children  their  parents,  and  pri- 
vate individuals  in  a  state  be  continually  rising  up  to  destroy  all 
just  authority. 

The  above  may  suflice  to  ascertain  the  weight  of  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury's objections  to  the  doctrine  of  rewards  ;  and  now  I  shall  take 
the  liberty  to  retort  the  charge,   and  attempt  to  prove   that  the 

Vol,,  in.  r 


50  MOTIVES  TO  [Part  I. 

epithets  "  narrow  and  selfish,"  which  he  applies  to  the  Christian 
system,  properly  belong  to  his  own. 

In  his  Inquiry  concerning  Virtue,  contained  in  the  second  vol- 
ume of  his  Characteristics,  though  he  allows  it  to  consist  in  our 
being  proportionably  affected  towards  the  whole  system  to  which 
we  bear  a  relation  ;  (p.  17.)  and  that  this  world  may  be  only  a  part 
of  a  more  extended  system ;  (p.  20.)  yet  he  studiously  leaves 
out  God  as  the  head  of  it.  Among  all  the  relations  which  he  enu- 
merates, there  is  no  mention  of  that  between  the  creature  and  the 
Creator.  His  enlarged  and  disinterested  scheme  of  morality  is  at 
last  nothing  more  than  for  a  creature  to  regard  those  "  of  its  own 
kind,  or  species:"  Not  only  is  all  gentleness,  kindness,  and  com- 
passion to  inferior  creatures  left  out,  but  the  love  of  God  is  not  in 
it.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  professed  object  of  his  Inquiry,  to 
prove  that  virtue,  goodness,  or  moral  excellence,  may  exist  with- 
out religion,  and  even  "  in  an  Atheist."  (p.  6.)  In  short,  it  is 
manifest  that  it  is  the  love  of  God,  and  not  self-love,  to  which  his  love 
ofvirtue,/or  its  own  sake,  stands  opposed.  That  for  which  he 
pleads  is  the  impious  spirit  of  a  child,  who  disregarding  his  father's 
favour,  pays  no  attention  to  his  commi\nds,  as  his  commands ;  but 
complies  with  them  only  on  account  of  their  approving  themselves 
to  his  own  mind.  But  this  is  no  other  than  self-will,  which  instead 
of  being  opposed  to  self  love,  is  one  of  its  genuine  exercises. 

"  Our  holy  religion,"  says  this  sneering  writer,  takes  but  little 
notice  of  the  most  heroic  virtues,  such  as  zeal  for  the  public,  and 
our  country."*  That  Christianity  takes  but  little  notice  of  what 
is  commonly  called  patriotism,  is  admitted  ;  and  if  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury had  been  free  from  that  narrowness  of  mind"  which  it  is  his 
intention  here  to  censure  ;  yea,  if  he  had  only  kept  to  his  own  defi- 
nition of  virtue — "  a  regard  to  those  of  our  own  kind,  or  species," 
he  would  have  taken  as  little.  By  the  public  good,  he  evidently 
means  no  more  than  the  temporal  prosperity  of  a  particular  coun- 
try ;  which  is  to  be  sought  at  the  expense  of  all  other  countries 
with  whom  it  happens,  justly  or  unjustly,  to   be  at  variance 

*  Characteristic:,  Vol.  I.  pp.98,  99. 


CHAPTER  IV.l  A  VIRTUOUS  LIFE. 


51 


Christianity,  we  acknowledge,  knows  nothing  of  this  spirit. 
It  is  superior  to  it.  It  is  not  natural  for  a  Christian  to  enter 
into  the  antipathies,  or  embroil  himself  in  the  contentions  of 
a  nation,  however  he  may  be  occasionidly  drawn  into  them.  His 
soul  is  much  more  in  its  element  when  breathing  after  the  present 
and  future  happiness  of  a  world.  In  undertakings,  both  public  and 
private,  which  tend  to  alleviate  the  miseries,  and  enlarge  the  com- 
forts of  human  life,  Christians  have  ever  been  foremost :  and  when 
they  have  conceived  themselves  lawfully  called  even  into  the  field  of 
battle,  they  have  not  been  wanting  in  valour.  Kut  the  heroism  to 
which  they  principally  aspire  is  of  another  kind  :  it  is  that  of  sub- 
duing their  own  spirit,  doing  good  against  evil,  seeking  the  present 
and  eternal  well-being  of  those  who  hate  them,  and  laying  down 
their  lives  if  required,  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Such  is  the  "  narrow  spirit"  of  Christians  ;  and  such  have  been 
their  "selfish  pursuits."  But  these  are  things  which  do  not  em- 
blazon their  names  in  the  account  of  unbelievers.  The  murderers 
of  mankind  will  be  applauded  before  them.  But  they  have  enough: 
their  blood  is  precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  antl  their  names 
ire  enbalmeil  in  the  memory  of  the  upright. 


CHAPTER  V. 


HIE  LIVES  OF  THOSE  WHO  REJECT  THE    aOSPEL    WILL    NOT    BEAR    A 
COMPARISON    WITH    THEIRS     WHO    KMBRACE    IT. 


No  books  are  so  plain  as  the  lives  of  men  ;  no  characters  so  leg- 
ible as  their  moral  conduct.  If  the  principles  of  a  body  of  men  will 
not  bear  this  criterion,  we  may  expect  to  hear  them  exclaim 
against  it  as  unfair,  and  uncertain  ;  but  when  they  have  said  all, 
they  will  endeavour  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  if  possible.  It  is  thus 
that  the  virtues  of  idolaters  are  the  constant  theme  of  deistical  pan- 
egyric ;  and  all  the  corruptions,  intrigues,  persecutions,  wars,  and 
mischiefs,  which  of  late  ages  have  afflicted  the  earth,  are  charged 
to  the  account  of  Christians.  It  is  thus  that  Christian  minis- 
ters under  the  name  of  priests,  are  described  as  mercenary,  design- 
ing, and  hypocritical  ;  and  the  lives  of  hectoring  profligates  praised 
in  comparison  of  them.*  In  short,  it  is  thus  that  Christians  are 
accused  of  fanaticism,  affectation,  ingratitude,  presumption,  and 
almost  every  thing  else  that  is  mean  and  base  ;  and  men  are  per- 
suaded to  become  deists,  with  an  assurance  that,  by  so  doing,  they 
will  "  live  more  consistently,  and  morally,  than  by  any  other  sys- 
tem.t 

Rut  let  us  examine  whether  these  representations  accord  with 
fact.  Is  it  fact,  that  the  ancient  philosophers  of  Greece  and 
Rome  were  virtuous  characters  ?  It  is  true,  that  like  the  Deists, 
they  talked  and  wrote  much  about  virtue  ;  and  if  the  latter  may  be 
believed,  they  were  very  virtuous.  "  They  opposed  each  other," 
says  Voltaire,  "  in  their  dogmas  ;  but  in  morality   they  were  all 

*  Hume's  Essays  Moral  and  Political,  Etsay  XlklV. 

+  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  fil. 


54  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  [Part  I. 

agreed."  After  loading  each  of  them  with  encomiums,  he  sums  up 
by  affirming,  "  There  has  been  no  philosopher  in  all  antiquity  who 
has  not  been  desirous  of  making  men  better."*  This  is  a  very 
favorable  report ;  and,  if  well  founded,  the  writer  of  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  must  not  only  have  dealt 
largely  in  calumny,  but  have  possessed  the  most  consummate 
effrontery,  to  address  such  an  epistle  to  the  citizens  of  Rome,  who 
from  their  own  knowledge  must  have  been  able  to  contradict  him. 
There  are  other  reports,  however,  of  a  very  different  complexion. 

It  is  no  part  of  my  design  to  enter  minutely  into  this  subject ; 
nor  is  it  necessary.  Many  able  writers  have  proved,  from  the 
most  authentic  sources  of  information,  that  the  account  given  of 
the  heathens  by  the  Apostle  is  not  exaggerated.  An  extract  or 
two  from  their  writings  will  be  sufficient  for  my  purpose. 

"  Epictetus  bids  you  temporize,  and  worship  the  gods  after  the 
fashion  of  your  country.]  Pythagoras  forbids  you  to  pray  to  God, 
because  you  know  not  what  is  convenient.^  Plutarch  commends 
Cato  Uticencis,  for  killing  himself  amidst  philosophic  thoughts, 
with  resolution  and  deliberation,  after  reading  Plato  on  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul.§  Cicero  pleads  for  self-murder.  Herein  he 
was  seconded  by  Brutus,  Cassius,  and  others  who  practised  it. 
Many  of  their  learned  men  applauded  their  opinion  and  practice. 
Seneca  thus  pleads  for  it ;  '  If  thy  mind  be  melancholy  and  in  mis- 
ery, thou  mayest  put  a  period  to  this  wretched  condition  :  wherever 
thou  lookest,  there  is  an  end  to  it.  See  that  precipice  ;  there  thou 
mayest  have  liberty.  Seest  thou  that  sea,  that  river,  that  well  ? 
Liberty  is  at  the  bottom  of  it :  that  little  tree  ?  freedom  hangs 
upon  it :  thy  own  neck,  thy  own  throat  may  be  a  refuge  to  thee 
from  such  servitude  ;  yea,  every  vein  of  thy  body.'H 

We  may  find  in  the  heathen  philosophers,  customary  swearing 
commended,  if  not  by  their  precepts,  yet  by  the  examples  of  their 
best  moralists,  Plato,  Socrates,  Seneca,  and  Julian  the  emperor  ; 
in  whose  works  numerous  oaths,  by  Jupiter,  Hercules,  the  Sun, 

*  IgDoraat  Philosopher,  p.  60.     t  Bnchiridon,  Cap.  38.  p.  m.  56. 
%  Diog.  Laertius.  i  Plutarch's  Life  of  Cato,  near  the  end, 

H  De  ira,  Lib.  3.  Cap.  15.  p.  m.  319. 


Chapter  V.]  AND  UNBELIEVERS.  55 

Serapis,  and  tbe  like,  do  occur.  In  the  same  manner  we  see  the 
unnatural  love  of  boys  recommcRded.*  Aristippus  maintained 
that  it  was  lawful  for  a  wise  man  to  steal,  commit  adultery,  and 
itacrilege,  when  opportunity  offered ;  for  that  none  of  these  actiom 
were  naturally  evil,  setting  aside  the  indgar  opinion  which  was  in- 
troduced into  the  iporld  by  silly  and  illiterate  people — that  a  wise 
man  might  publiclf/,  without  shame  or  scandal,  keep  company  with 
rommon  harlots,  if  his  inclinations  led  him  to  it.  '  May  not  a  beau- 
tiful woman  be  made  use  of/  he  a>k!;,  '  because  she  is  fair  ;  or  a 
youth  because  he  is  lovely  ?     Certainly  they  may.''  "t 

If,  as  X'oltaire  asserts,  it  was  the  desire  of  these  philosophers 
to  make  men  better,  assuredly  they  employed  very  extraordinary 
means  to  accomplish  their  desire. 

What  are  the  lives  recorded  by  Plutarch?  Many  of  them,  no 
doubt,  entertained  a  high  sense  of  honour,  and  possessed  a  large 
portion  of  patriotism.  But  were  either  of  these  morality  ?  If  by 
this  term  be  meant  such  dispositions  of  the  mind  as  are  right,  fit, 
and  amiable,  it  vvas  not.  Their  sense  of  honour  was  not  of  that 
kind  which  made  them  scorn  to  do  evil ;  but  like  the  false  honour 
of  modern  duellists,  consisted  merely  in  a  dread  of  disgrace.  It 
induced  many  of  them  to  carry  about  them  the  fatal  means  of  self- 
destruction  :  and  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of  an  adversary^ 
to  make  use  of  them.  And  as  to  their  patriotism,  generally  speak- 
ing, it  operated  not  merely  in  the  preservation  of  their  country, 
but  in  endeavours  to  extend  and  aggrandize  it  at  the  expense  of 
other  nations.  It  was  a  patriotism  inconsistent  with  justice  and 
:;ood  will  to  men.  Add  to  this,  that  fornication,  adultery,  and  un- 
natural Climes,  were  common  among  them. 

As  to  the  moral  state  of  society  among  heathens,  both  ancient 
Au*l  modern,  we  may  have  occasion  to  consider  this  a  little  more 
jtarticularlj  hereafter.  At  present  I  would  inquire.  Is  it  fact  that 
the  persecutions,  intrigues,  wars,  and  mischiefs  of  late  ages,  are 
to  be  charged  to  tlie  account  of  Christianity  ^ 

*  Juvenal  Satyr,  II.   vrr.   10. 

r  Diog.  i.aertius,  \'ol.  I.  p.  m  1C5,  16G.  Sre  in  Millar'^  If istory  of  the 
Popagatjon  «f  Christianity,  Vol.  I.  p.  tJl — (i"-. 


56  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  [Part  I. 

With  regard  to  persecution,  nothing  is  more  common  with  our 
adversaries  than  to  lay  it  wholly  at  our  door.  They  are  continu- 
ally alleging  that  the  heathens  all  agreed  to  tolerate  each  other  till 
Christianity  arose.  Thus  writes  Shaftesbury,*  Hume,t  Voltaire,| 
Gibbon, §  and  Paine. ||  That  the  heathen  tolerated  each  other  be- 
fore the  introduction  of  Christianity,  is  allowed  ;  and  they  did  the 
same  after  it.  It  was  not  against  each  other  that  their  enmity  was 
directed.  In'  the  diversity  of  their  idols,  and  modes  of  worship, 
there  were  indeed  different  adminiatrations,  hut  it  was  the  same 
lord;  whereas  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  there  was  nothing 
that  could  associate  with  heathenism,  but  every  thing  that  threat- 
ened its  utter  subversion. 

It  is  allowed  also  that  individual  persecution,  except  in  a  few 
instances,  commenced  with  Christianity ;  but  who  began  the  prac- 
tice ?  Was  it  Jesus  that  persecuted  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate  ;  or 
they  him  ?  Did  Peter  and  James  and  John  and  Paul  set  up  for  in- 
quisitors, and  persecute  the  Jews  and  Romans  ;  or  the  Jews  and 
Romans  them  ?  Did  the  primitive  Christians  discover  any  disposi- 
tion to  persecute  ?  By  whom  was  Europe  deluged  with  blood  in 
ten  successive  persecutions  during  the  tust  three  centuries  ;  Were 
Christians  the  authors  of  this  ?  When  the  church  had  so  far  degen- 
erated as  to  imbibe  many  of  the  principles  and  superstitions  of  the 
heathen,  then  indeed  it  began  to  imitate  their  persecuting  spirit; 
but  not  before.  When  Christ's  kingdom  was  transformed  into  a  king- 
dom of  this  world,  the  weapons  of  its  warfare  might  be  expected  to 
become  carnal,  and  to  be  no  longer,  as  formerly  mighty  through  God. 

The  religious  persecutions  among  Christians  have  been  com- 
pared to, the  massacres  attending  the  French  Revolution  in  the 
time  of  Robespierre.  The  horrid  barbarities  of  the  latter,  it  has 
been  said  by  way  of  apology,  "  have  not  even  been  equal  to  those 
of  the  former."  If  Deists  maybe  allowed  to  confound  Christian- 
ity and  Popery,  1  shall  not  dispute  the  justness  of  the  comparison. 
There  is,  no  doubt,  a  great  resemblance  between  the  papal  and  the 
Infidel  spirit ;  or  rather  they  are  one.     Both  are  the  spirit  of  this 

*  Characteristics,  Vol.  I.  p.  18.  t  Essay  on  Parties, 

t  Ignorant  Philosopher,  p.  83        ♦  History  of  Dec.  Chap.  IL  p.  20 

H  Age  of  Reason,  Part  II.  Preface, 


ChaptekV.]  and  unbelievers.  57 

world,  which  is  averse  from  true  rehgion.  The  dift'ereiice  be- 
tween them  i?  but  as  that  between  the  wolf  and  the  tiger.*  But 
those  who  reason  thus,  shouhl  prove  that  the  reformers  in  religion 
have  been  guilty  ot"  excesses  equal  to  tho.>-e  of  the  deistical  re- 
formers in  politics.  Were  there  any  such  assassinations  among 
the  Protestants  towards  one  another,  or  towards  the  Papists,  as 
have  been  wantonly  committed  by  Inrtdels  ?  It  is  true,  there  were 
examples  of  persecution  among  Protestants,  and  such  as  will  ever 
remain  a  dishonour  to  the  parties  concerned  ;  but  those  which  af- 
fected the  lives  of  men  were  few  in  number  compared  with  the 
other,  and  those  few,  censurable  as  they  are,  were  not  performed 
by  aas.tssinations. 

Mr.  Paine  affirms  that,  "  all  sects  of  Christians,  except  the  Qua- 
kers, have  persecuted  in  their  turn."  That  much  of  this 
spirit  has  prevailed  is  too  true  :  but  this  assertion  is  unfounded. 
1  could  name  more,  ilenominations  than  one,  whose  hands,  I  be- 
lieve, were  never  stained  with  blood,  and  whose  avowed  princi- 
ples have  always  been  in  ftvour  of  Universal  liberty  of  con- 
science. 

But  let  us  inquire  into  the  principles  and  spirit  of  our  adversa- 
ries on  this  subject.  It  is  true  that  almost  all  their  writers  have 
defended  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  levelled  their  censures  against 
persecution.  But  where  is  the  man  that  is  not  an  enemy  to  this 
practice,  when  it  is  directed  against  himself?  have  they  discov- 
ered a  proper  regard  to  the  rights  of  conscience  among  Christians? 
This  is  the  question.  There  may  be  individuals  among  them  who 
have  ;  but  tiie  generality  of  their  writers  discover  a  shameful 
partiality  in  favour  of  their  own  side,  and  a  contemptuous  disre- 
gard of  all  wiio  have  suffered  for  the  name  of  Christ.  While 
they  exhibit  persecution  in  its  deservedly  infamous  colours,  they 
as  constantly  hold  up  the  persecuted,  if  found  among  Christians, 
in  a  disadvantageous  point  of  view.     Mr.  Hume  allows,  that  "  the 

*  The  resemblance  l)elweeD  Topery  and  Infulelity  is  pointed  out  witli  ;jreat 
beauty  and  energy  in  a  piece  which  has  ap  peared  in  some  of  the  periodical 
publications,  entitled,  The  progress  of  the  moderns,  in  knowledge,  refine- 
ment, and  virtue.  See  Theological  Magazine,  Vol.  F.  No  V.  p.  344.  Evan- 
gelical Magazine,  Vol.  IV.  p.  405. 

Vol.  111.  8 


58  CONDUCT  OF  BKLICVERS  Lf'-^^Rfl. 

persecution  of  Christians  in  the  early  ages  were  cruel ;"  but  lays 
the  bLiiVie  chiefly  on  themselves  :*  and  all  through  his  history  of 
England  he  palliates  the  conduct  of  the  persecutors,  and  repre- 
sents the  persecuted  in  an  unfavourable  light.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  Gibbon,  in  his  History  of  the  decline  of  the  Roman  Empire; 
of  Shaftesbury  in  his  Characteristics  ;  and  indeed  of  the  general- 
ity of  deistical  writers.  Voltaire,  boasting  of  the  wisdom  and 
moderation  of  the  ancient  Romans,  says,  "  They  never  persecu- 
ted a  single  philosopher  for  his  opinions,  from  the  time  of  Romu- 
lus, till  the  Popes  got  possession  of  their  powers  "t  But  did 
they  not  persecute  Christians  ?  The  millions  of  lives  that  fell  a 
sacrifice  in  the  first  three  centuries  after  the  Christian  era,  are 
considered  as  nothing  by  Voltaire.  The  benevolence  of  this 
apostle  of  deism  feels  not  for  men  if  they  happen  to  be  believers 
in  Christ.  If  an  Aristotle,  a  Pythagoras,  or  a  Galileo  suffer  for 
their  opinions,  they  are  "martyrs  :"  but  if  a  million  of  French 
Protestants,  "  from  a  desire  to  bring  back  things  to  the  primitive 
institutes  of  the  church,"  endure  the  most  cruel  treatment,  or 
quit  their  country  to  escape  it,  they,  according  to  this  writer,  are 
''weak  and  obstinate  men."  Say,  reader,  are  these  men  friends 
to  i-eligous  liberty  ?  To  what  does  all  their  declamations  against 
persecution  amount  but  this — that  such  of  them  who  reside  in 
Christianized  countries  wish  to  enjoy  their  opinions  without  being 
exposed  to  it. 

Till  of  late  Deists  have  been  in  the  minorily  in  all  the  nations 
of  Europe,  and  have  therefore  felt  the  necessity  of  a  free  enjoy- 
ment of  opinion.  It  is  not  what  they  have  pleaded  under  those 
circumstances,  but  their  conduct  when  in  power,  that  must  prove 
them  friends  to  religious  liberty.  Few  men  are  known  to  be 
what  they  are  till  they  are  tried.  They  and  Protestant  Dissen- 
ters, have,  in  some  respects  been  in  a  similar  situation.  Of  late, 
each,  in  a  different  country,  have  become  the  majority,  and  the 
civil  power  has  been  intrusted  in  their  hands.  The  descendants 
of  the  Puritans,  in  the  western  world,  by  dispensing  the  blessings 
of  liberty  even  to  Episcopalians,  by  whose   persecutions  their 

*  Essay  on  Parties  in  general.         t  Ignorant  Philosopher,  pp.  82,  83. 


Chapter  V.]  AND  UNBELIEVERS.  59 

ancestors  were  driven  from  tlieir  native  shores,  have  shown  tliem- 
selves  worth)'  of  the  trust.  But  have  the  Deists  acted  thus  in 
France  and  other  countries  which  have  fallen  into  their  hands  ? 
It  is  true,  we  believe  them  to  have  been  the  instruments  in  the 
hand  of  (jod,of  destroying  the  papal  Antichrist  ;  and  in  this  view 
we  rejoice  :  howbeit  they  meant  not  so.  If  we  judge  of  their 
proceedings  towards  the  Catholics  in  the  ordinary  way  of  judging 
of  human  actions,  which  undoubtedly  we  ought,  I  fear  it  will 
be  found  not  only  persecuting,  but  perfidious  and  bloo.ly  in  the 
extreme. 

I  am  not  without  hope  that  liberty  of  conscience  will  be  pre- 
sf  rvcd  in  France  ;  and  if  it  should,  it  will  be  seen  whether  the 
subversion  of  the  national  establishment  will  prove,  what  the  ad- 
visers of  that  measure  wiihout  doubt  expected,  and  what  others 
who  abhorred  it  apprehended — the  extinction  of  Christianity.  It 
may  prove  the  reverse,  and  issue  in  things  which  will  more  than 
balance  all  the  ills  attending  the  Revolution.  These  hopes,  how- 
ever, are  not  founded  on  an  idea  of  the  just  or  tolerant  spirit  of 
infidelity  ;  but,  so  far  as  human  motives  are  concerned,  on  that 
regard  to  consistenci/  which  is  known  to  influence  all  mankind. 
If  the  leading  men  in  France,  after  having  so  liberally  declaimed 
against  persecution,  should  ever  enact  laws  in  favour  of  it,  or  in 
violation  of  the  latvs  encourage  it,  they  must  appear  in  a  most  dis- 
graceful light  in  the  opinion  of  the  whole  civilized  world. 

Not  only  persecution,  but  unjust  zvars,  intrigues,  and  other  mis- 
chiefs, are  placed  to  the  acccount  of  Christianity.  Th<it  such 
things  have  existed,  and  that  men  who  are  called  Christians  have 
been  deeply  concerned  in  tliem,  is  true.  Wicked  men  will  act 
wickedly,  by  whatever  name  they  are  called.  Whether  these 
things  be  fairly  attributable  to  the  Christian  religion,  may  be  de- 
termined by  a  few  plain  inquiries. 

First  :  Did  these  evils  commence  with  Christianity,  or  have  they 
increased  under  its  influence  ?  Has  not  the  world,  in  every  age 
with  which  history  acquaints  us,  been  a  scene  of  corruption,  intrigue 
tumult,  and  laughter  ?  All  that  can  plausibly  be  objected  to 
Christianity  is,  that  these  things  have  continued  in  the  world  not- 


(JO  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  [Part  I. 

■withstanding  its  influence  ;  and  that  they  have  been  practiced  in  as 
great  a  degree  by  men  calling  themselves  Christians  as  by  any 
other  persons. 

Secondly  :  Are  those  who  ordinarily  engage  in  these  practices 
real  Christians  ;  and  do  our  adversaries  themselves  account  them 
so  ?  They  can  distinguish,  when  they  please,  between  sincere  and 
merely  nominal  Christians.  They  need  not  be  told  that  great 
numbers,  in  every  nation,  are  of  that  religion  which  happens  to 
prevail  at  the  time  ;  or  rather,  that  they  are  of  no  religion. 

Thirdly :  Have  not  the  courts  of  princes,  notwithstanding 
Christianity  may  have  been  the  professed  religion  of  the  land, 
been  generally  attended  by  a  far  greater  proportion  of  Deists  than 
of  serious  Christians;  and  have  not  public  measures  been  directed 
by  the  counsels  of  the  former  much  more  than  by  those  of  the  lat- 
ter? It  is  well  known  that  great  numbt-rs  among  the  nobility  and 
gentry  of  every  nation  consider  religion  as  suited  only  to  vulgar 
minds  ;  and  therefore  either  wholly  absent  themselves  from  wor- 
ship, or  attend  but  seldom,  and  then  only  to  save  appearances 
towards  a  national  establishment,  by  which  provision  is  made  for 
the  younger  branches  of  their  families.  In  other  words,  they  are 
unbelievers.  This  is  the  description  of  men  by  whom  public  affairs 
are  commonly  managed;  and  to  whom  the  good  or  the  evil  pertain- 
ing to  them,  so  far  as  human  agency  is  concerned,  is  to  be  attribu- 
ted. 

Finally  :  Great  as  have  been  the  evils  abounding  in  nations 
professing  Christianity,  (and  great  they  have  been,  and  ought 
greatly  to  be  deplored,)  can  liubelievers  pretend  to  have  given  us 
any  hope,  at  present,  of  the  state  of  things  being  meliorated  ?  It  is 
true,  they  have  talked  and  written  much  in  this  way ;  and  many 
well-wishers  to  the  human  race  have  been  disposed  to  give  them 
credit.  But  it  is  not  words  that  will  prove  any  thing.  Have  they 
done  any  thing  that  justifies  a  hope  of  reformation  ?  No,  they 
themselves,  must  first  be  reformed  ;  or  rather  to  use  an  appropriate 
teim  of  their  own,  regenerated.  Far  be  it  from  me,  that,  in  such  a 
cause  as  this,  1  should  write  under  the  influence  of  national  preju- 
dice, or  side  with  the  enemies  of  civil  and  /eligious  freedom:  but  I 
must  say,  there  never  was  a  representation  more  necessary  than 


CiiArTER  v.]  AM)  UNBELIEVERS.  gj 

llial  which  was  given  in  an  Address  IVom  the  Executive  Directory 
of  France  to  the  Five  Hundred,  about  tlie  beginning  of  the  year 
179(j.  In  this  address,  they  "  request  the  most  earnest  attention  ot 
the  Council  towards  adopting  some  measure  for  tlie  regeneration  of 
the  public  morals."  This  is  the  regeneration  wanted,  and  which, 
having  rejected  Christianity,  they  may  be  ever  seeking,  but  will 
never  be  able  to  obtain.  They  may  continue  to  revolutionize 
as  long  as  a  part}'  shall  be  found  that  wishes  for  an  increase  of 
power,  and  percuives  an  opportunity  of  gaining  it;  and  every  par- 
ty in  its  turn  may  talk  of  "  saving  liberty  :"  but  never  will  they  be 
free  indeed  until  they  are  vmancipated  in  some  good  degree  from 
the  dominion  of  vice  ;  and  never  will  this  be  effected  but  by  a 
knowledge  of  evangelical  truth. 

The  friends  of  legitimate  liberty  have  deeply  to  regret,  that  under 
that  revered  name  has  been  perpetrated  almost  every  species  of 
atrocity  ;  and  that  not  only  towards  individuals,  but  nations,  and 
nations  the  most  peaceable  and  inoffensive,  whose  only  crime  was 
that  of  being  unable  to  resist.  Liberty  has  suffered  more  from  the 
hands  of  Infidels,  amidst  all  their  successes  and  declamations,  than 
from  its  professed  enemies;  and  still  it  bleeds  beneath  their 
wounds.  Without  entering  into  political  disputes,  1  may  safely 
affirm  that  if  ever  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed  with  equal 
liberty,  it  will  be  by  the  prevalence,  not  of  the  pretended  illumin- 
ations of  infidel  philosophy,  but  of  that  doctrine  which  teaches  us 
(0  do  unlu  others  as  ue  teould  that  others  should  do  unto  us. 

Finally:  Mr.  Paine  affirms,  that  men,  by  becoming  Deists,  would 
''  live  more  consistently  and  morally  than  by  any  other  system." 
As  to  living  more  conaislentlij,  it  is  possible  there  may  be  some 
truth  in  it  :  for  the  best  Christians,  it  must  be  allowed,  have  many 
impertections,  which  are  but  so  many  inconsistencies  ;  whereas, 
by  complying  with  this  advice,  they  would  be  uniformly  wicked. 
And  as  to  their  living  more  morally,  if  Mr.  Paine  could  coin  a  new 
system  of  morals,  from  which  the  love  of  God  should  be  excluded, 
and  intemperance,  incontinency,  pride,  profane  swearing,  cursing, 
lying,  and  hypocrisy,  exalted,  to  the  rank  of  virtues,  he  might  very 
probably  make  good  his  assertion. 


G2  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  [Part  1. 

Mr.  Pnine  professes  to  "detest  the  Bible  on  account  of  its  ob- 
acene  sst*  ries,  voluptuous  debauchries,  cruel  executions,  and  un- 
reiealing  vindictiveness."*  That  the  Bible  relates  such  things, 
is  true;  and  ev  ry  impartial  history  of  mankind  must  do  the  same. 

The  ques(ioi)  is,  whether  they  be  so  related  as  to  leave  a  favour- 
able impression  of  them  upon  the  mind  of  a  serious  reader.  If  so 
and  if  the  Bible  be  that  immoral  book  which  Mr.  Paine  represents 
it  to  be,  how  is  it  that  the  readinji;  of  it  should  have  reclaimed  mil- 
lions from  immorality  ?  Whether  he  will  acknowledge  this,  or  not, 
it  is  a  fact  too  notorious  to  be  denied  by  impartial  observers.  Ev- 
ery man  residing  in  a  Christian  country  will  acknowledge,  unless 
he  have  an  end  to  answer  in  saying  otherwise,  that  those  people  who 
read  the  Bible,  bslieve  its  doctrines  and  endeavour  to  form  their 
lives  by  its  precept?,  are  the  most  sober,  upright,  and  useful  mem- 
bers of  the  community  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  those  who 
discredit  the  Bible,  and  renounce  it  as  the  rule  of  their  lives,  are 
generally  speaking,  addicted  to  the  grossest  vices  ;  such  as  profane 
swearing,  lying,  drunkenness,  and  lewdness.  It  is  very  singular, 
I  repeat  it,  that  men,  by  regarding  an  immoral  book,  should  learn 
to  practice  morality  ;  and  that  others,  by  disregarding  it,  should 
learn  the  contrary. 

How  is  it  that,  in  countries  where  Christianity  has  made  pro- 
gress, men  have  almost  universally  agreed  in  reckoning  a  true 
Christian,  and  an  amiable,  open,  modest,  chaste,  conscientious, 
and  benevolent  character,  as  the  same  thing?  How  is  it  also,  that 
to  say  of  a  man,  He  rejects  the  Bible,  is  nearly  the  same  thing,  in 
the  account  of  people  in  general,  as  to  say,  He  is  a  man  of  a  disso- 
lute life  ?  If  there  were  not  a  general  connexion  between  these 
things,  public  opinion  would  not  so  generally  associate  them.  Indi- 
viduals, and  even  parties,  may  be  governed  by  prejudice  ;  but 
public  opinion  of  character  is  seldom  far  from  truth.  Besides, 
the  prejudices  of  merely  nominal  Christians,  so  far  as  my  observa- 
tion extends,  are  equally  strong,  if  not  stronger,  against  those 
Christians  who  are  distinguished  by  their  devout  and  serioua 
regard  to  the  scriptures,  than  against  professed  Infidels.     How  is 

*Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  12. 


Chapter  V.]  AND  UNBF.LIEVKRS.  63 

it  then  to  be  accounted  for,  that,  although  they  will  call  them  fana- 
tics, enthusiasts,  and  other  unpleasant  names,  yet  it  is  very  rare 
that  they  reckon  them  immoral  ?  If,  as  is  sometimes  the  case, 
they  accuse  them  of  unworthy  motives,  and  insinuate  that  in 
■ecret  they  are  as  wicked  as  others,  either  such  insinuations  are 
not  seriously  believed,  or,  if  they  be,  the  party  is  considered  as 
insincere  in  his  prol'ession.  No  man  thinks  that  genuine  Chris- 
tianity consists  with  wicked  life,  open  or  secret.  But  the  irieas  of  infi- 
delity and  immorality  are  associated  in  the  public  mind  ;  and  thr» 
association  is  clear  and  strong  ;  so  much  so,  as  to  become  a  ground 
of  action.  Whom  do  men  ordinarily  choose  for  umpires,  trustees, 
guardians,  and  the  like  ?  Doubtless  they  endeavour  to  select  per- 
sons of  intelligence  :  but  if  to  this  be  added  Christian  principle,  i« 
it  not  of  weight  in  these  cases  ;  It  is  seldom  known,  I  believe, 
but  that  a  serious  and  intelligent  Christian,  whose  situation  in  tho 
world  renders  him  conversant  with  his  concerns,  will  have  his 
hands  full  of  employment.  Ask  bankers,  merchants,  tradesmen, 
and  others,  who  are  frequently  looking  out  for  persons  of  probity 
to  occupy  situations  of  trust,  in  whose  hands  they  would  choose  to 
confide  their  property  ?  They  might  object,  and  with  good  reason, 
to  persons  whose  religion  rendered  them  pert,  conceited,  and  idle: 
but  would  they  not  prefer  one  who  really  makes  the  Bible  the  rule 
of  his  life,  to  one  who  professedly  rejects  it  ?  The  common  prac- 
tice in  these  cases  affords  a  sufficient  answer. 

How  is  it  that  the  principles  and  reasonings  of  Infidels,  though 
frequently  accompanied  with  great  natural  and  acquinid  abilities, 
are  seldom  known  to  make  any  impression  on  sober  people  ?  Is  it 
not  because  the  men  and  their  communications  are  known  ?*     How 

•  It  is  said  of  a  gentleman  lately  deceased,  who  was  eminent  in  the  lite- 
rary world,  that  in  early  life  be  drank  deeply  into  the  free-thinking  scheme. 
He  and  one  of  his  companions,  of  the  same  turn  of  mind,  often  carried  on  their 
conversations  in  the  hearing  of  a  religious  but  illiterate  countryman.  This 
gentleman,  aflerwards  becoming  a  serious  Christian,  was  concerned  for  the 
countryman,  lest  his  failh  in  tlie  Christian  religion  should  have  been  shaken. 
One  day  he  took  the  liberty  to  ask  him,  Whether  what  had  Jo  frequently 
been  advanced  in  his  hearing  had  not  produced  this  effect  upon  him?  "  By 
BO  mean?."  answered  the  countryman,  ''it  never  made  the  least  impressioa 


64  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  [Part  I. 

Is  it  that  so  much  is  made  of  the  foils  of  Noah,  Lot,  David,  Jonah, 
Peter,  and  others  ?  The  same  things  in  heathen  philosophers,  or 
modern  unbelievers,  would  be  passed  over  without  notice.  All 
the  declamations  of  our  adversaries  on  these  subjects  plainly  prove 
that  such  instances  with  us  are  more  singular  than  with  them. 
With  us  they  are  occasional,  and  afford  matter  for  deep  repen- 
tance ;  with  them  they  are  habitual,  and  furnish  employment  in 
the  work  of  palliation.  The  spots  on  the  garments  of  a  child 
attract  attention  ;  but  the  filthy  condition  of  the  animal  that  wal- 
lows in  the  mire  is  disregarded,  as  being  a  thing  of  course. 

The  morality,  such  as  it  is,  which  is  found  among  Deists, 
amounts  to  nothing  more  than  a  little  exterior  decorum.  The 
criminality  of  m/e?th'on  is  expressly  disowned.*  The  great  body 
of  these  writers  pretend  to  no  higher  motives  than  a  regard  to  their 
safety,  interest  or  reputation.  Actions  proceeding  from  these 
principles  must  not  only  be  destitute  of  virtue,  but  wretchedly 
defective  as  to  their  influence  on  the  well-being  of  society.  If  the 
heart  be  towards  God,  a  sober,  righteous,  and  godly  life,  becomes 
a  matter  of  choice  ;  but  that  which  is  performed,  not  for  its  own 
sake,  but  from  fear,  interest,  or  ambition,  will  extend  no  farther 
than  the  eye  of  man  can  follow  it.  In  domestic  life  it  will  be  but 
little  regarded,  and  in  retirement  not  at  all.  Such,  in  fact,  is  the 
character  of  Infidels.  "Will  you  dare  to  assert,"  says  Linguet,  a 
French  writer,  in  an  address  to  Voltaire,  "  that  it  is  in  philosophic 
families  we  are  to  look  for  models  of  filial  respect,  conjugal  love, 
sincerity  in  friendship,  or  fidelity  among  domestics  ?  Were  you 
disposed  to  do  so,  would  not  your  own  conscienGe,your  own  expe- 
rience, suppress  the  falsehood,  even  before  your  lips  could  utter 
it?t 

upon  me."  "No  impression  upon  you!"  said  the  gentleman,  "  why,  you 
must  know  that  we  had  read  and  thought  on  these  things  much  more  than 
you  had  any  opportunity  of  doing."  "O  yes,"  said  the  other,  "but  I  knew 
also  your  manner  of  living  :  I  knew  that  to  maintain  such  a  course  of  conduct, 
you  found  it  necetsary  to  renounce  Christianity." 

*  Volney's  Law  of  Nature,  p.  18. 

t  Linguet  was  an  admirer  of  Voltaire  ;  but  disapproved  of  his  opposition  to. 
Christianity.    See  his  Review  of  that  author's  V^^orks,  p.  264. 


Chapter  V.]  AND  UNBELIEVERS.  gg 

"  Wherever  society  is  establisljed,  there  it  is  necessary  to  have 
religion  :  for  religion,  which  watches  over  the  crimes  that  arc  se- 
cret, is,  in  fact,  the  only  law  which  a  man  carries  about  with  him  ; 
the  only  one  whicli  places  the  punisluneiil  al  ihe  side  of  the  guilt  ; 
and  which  operates  as  forcibly  in  solitude  and  darkness  as  in  the 
broad  and  open  face  of  Hay."  Would  the  reader  have  thought  it  ? 
These  are  the  words  of  Voltaire  !• 

Nothing  is  more  common  than  fordeistical  writers  to  level  their 
artillery  against  the  Chriilian  ministry.     Under  the  appellation  of 
priests,  they  seem  to  think  themselves  at  liberty  to  load  them  with 
every  species  of  abuse.     That  ihere  are  great  numbers  of  worldly 
men  who  have  engaged  in  the  Christian  ministry,  as  other  worldly 
men  engaa;e  in  other  employments,  for  the  sake  of  profit,  is  irue  ; 
and  wber«  this  is  the  case,  it  may   be  expected  that  hunting,  ga- 
min»,  and  such  kind   of  amusements,  will  be  their  favourite   pur- 
suits, while  religious  exercises  will  he   performed  as  a  piece    of 
necessary  drudgery.     Where  this  is   the   case,  "  their  devotion 
must   be  feigned,  and   their  seriousness  mere  hypocrisy  and  gri- 
mace."    But,  that  this  should  be  represented  as  a  general   case, 
and  that  the  ministry  itself  should  be  reproached  on  account   of 
the  hypocrisy  of  worldly  men,  who  intrude  themselves  into  it,  can 
only  be  owing  to   malignity.     Let  the  fullest  subtraction  be  made 
of  characters  of  the  above  description,  and  I'  appeal  to   impartial 
observation  whether  there  will  not  still  remain  in  only  this  partic- 
ular order  of  Christians,  and  at  almost  any  period,  a  greater  num- 
ber of  serious,  upright,  disinterested,  and  benevolent  persons,  than 
could  be  found  among  the  whole  body  of  Deists  in  a  succession  of 
centuries. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  Mr.  Hume,  in  attempting  to  plunge 
Christian  ministers  into  the  mire  of  reproach,  is  obliged  to  descend 
himself,  and  to  drag  all  mankind  with  him,  into  the  same  situation. 
He  represents  ministers  as  "  drawn  from  the  common  mass  of 
mankind  as  people  are  to  other  employments,  by  the  views  of 
protit  ;"  and  suggests  that  "  therefore  they  are  obliged,  on  many 
occasions,  to  feign  more  devotion  than   they    possess,"  which  is 

•  lo  Sallivan'a  Survey  of  Nature 
Vou  HI.  9 


56  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  [Part  I 

friendly  to  hypocrisy.*  The  leiuling  molives  of  ;ili  jmljlic  oftkers, 
it  seems  is  to  aggrandize  themselves.  If  Mr.  Hume  had  accepted 
of  a  station  under  government,  we  can  be  at  no  loss,  therefore,  in 
judging  what  would  have  been  his  predominant  principle.  How 
weak,  as  well  as  wicked,  must  that  man  have  been,  who,  in  order  to 
wound  the  reputation  of  one  description  of  men,  could  point  his 
arrows  against  the  integrity  of  all  !  But  the  world  must  forgive 
him.  He  had  no  ill  design  against  them,  any  more  than  against 
himself.  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  these  Philistines, 
that  he  has  aimed  to  demolish  the  temple  of  human  virtue. 

Nor  is  his  antipathy,  or  that  of  his  brethren,  at  all  to  be  wonder- 
ed at.  These  are  the  men  who,  in  every  age,  have  exposed  the 
sophistry  of  Deists,  and  vindicated  Christianity  from  their  mali- 
cious aspersions.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  therefore,  that  they 
will  always  be  considered  as  their  natural  enemies.  It  is  no  more 
a  matter  of  surprise  that  they  should  be  the  objects  of  their  in- 
vective, than  that  the  weapons  of  nightly  depredators  should  be 
pointed  against  the  watchmen,  whose  business  it  is  to  detect  them 
and  expose  their  nefarious  practices. 

After  all  Mr.  Hume  pretends  to  respect  "  clergymen,  who  are 
set  apart  by  the  laws  to  the  care  of  sacred  matters  ;"  and  wishes  to 
be  understood  as  directing  his  censures  only  against  priests,  or 
those  who  pretend  to  power  and  dominion,  and  to  a  superior  sanc- 
tity of  character,  distinct  from  virtue  and  good  morals. t  It  should 
seem  then,  that  they  are  dissenting  ministers  only  that  incur  Mr. 
Hume's  displeasure  :  but  if,  as  he  represents  them,  they  be 
"  drawn  to  their  employment  by  the  views  of  profit,"  they  cer- 
tainly cannot  possess  the  common  understanding  of  men,  since 
they  could  scarcely  pursue  an  occupation  less  likely  to  accomplish 
their  design.  The  truth  is,  Mr.  Hume  did  not  mean  to  censure 
dissenting  ministers  only  ;  nor  did  he  feel  any  respect  for  clergy- 
men set  apart  by  the  laws.  Those  whom  he  meant  to  spare  were 
such  clergymen  as  were  men  after  his  own  heart;  and  the  objects 

*  Essay  on  National  Characters,  Note, 
t  Essays  Moral  and  Political,  Essay  XII.  pp.  107, 108,  Note. 


CHAPTF.a  v.]  AND  UNBELIEVERS.  57 

of  Ilia  dislike  were  truly  eva:igelical  minister?,  whether  churchmen 
or  dissentci-s,  who  were  not  satistied  with  hia  kind  of  morality,  but 
were  men  of  holy  lives,  and  consequently  were  respected  by  the 
people.  These  are  the  men  ac;itinst  whom  the  enmity  of  Deists 
has  ever  been  directed.  As  to  other  priests,  they  have  no  other 
dilTerence  with  them  than  tliat  of  rivalship,  wishin;^  to  possess  their 
wealth  and  iiitliience,  which  the  others  are  not  always  ihe  most 
willing;  to  relinquish.  In  professing,  however,  to  "  respect"  such 
clergymen,  Mr.  Hume  only  means  to  flatter  them,  and  draw  them  on 
In  a  little  nearer  alliance  with  his  views.  Respect  is  excited  only 
by  consistency  of  character  and  is  frequently  involuntary.  A  clergy- 
man of  loose  morals  may  be  preterred,  and  his  company  courted, 
hut  repecteU  he  cannot  l)e. 

As  to  those  ministers  against  whom  Mr.  Hume  levels  his  artil- 
lery, and  airninst  whom  the  real  enmity  of  his  party  has  always 
been  directed,  there  is  not  a  body  of  men  in  the  world,  of  equal 
talents  and  industry,  who  receive  less,  if  so  little,  for  their  labours. 
If  those  who  have  so  liberiilly  accused  them  of  interested  motives 
gained  no  more  by  their  exertion?  than  the  accused,  they  would 
not  be  so  wealtiiy  as  many  of  them  are. 

Compare  the  conduct  of  the  leading  men  among  Deists,  with  that 
of  the  body  of  serious  Christian  divines.  Amidst  their  declama- 
mations  against  priestly  hypocrisy,  are  they  honest  men  ?  Where 
is  their  ingenuousness  it)  continually  confounding  Christianity  and 
Popery  ?  Have  these  workers  of  iniquity  no  knowledge  ?  '  No,' 
say  some,  '  they  do  not  understand  the  difference  between  genu- 
ine and  corrupted  Christianity.  They  have  never  had  opportu- 
nity of  viewing  the  religion  of  Jesus  in  its  native  dress,  it  is  po- 
pish superstition  against  which  their  efforts  are  directed.  If  they 
understooil  Christianity  they  would  embrace  it..  Indeed?  And 
was  this  the  case  with  Shaftesbury,  Bolingbroke,  Hume,  or  Gibbon? 
or  is  this  the  case  with  Paine  ?  No,  they  have  both  seen  and  ha- 
ted the  light  ;  nor  will  they  come  to  it,  lest  their  deeds  should  be 
made  manifest. 

It  may  be  thought,  however,  that  some  excuse  may  be  made  for 
Infidels  residing  in  a  popish  country;  and  this  1  shall  not  dispute, 
HS  it  respects  the  ignorant  popnl:iro.  who  may  be  carried  away  by 


g8  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  [Part  I. 

their  leaders;  but  as  it  respects  the  leaders  themselves,  it  is  other- 
wise. The  National  Assembly  of  France,  when  they  wished  to 
counteract  the  priests,  and  to  reject  the  adoption  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith  as  the  established  religion,  could  clearly  distinguish 
between  genuine  and  corrupted  Christianity.*  Deists  can  distin- 
guish beuveen  Christianity  and  its  abuses,  when  an  end  is  to  be 
answered  by  it;  and  when  an  end  is  to  be  answered  by  it,  they 
can,  with  equal  facility,  confound  them. 

"  Herbert,  Hobbes,  Shaftesbury,  Woolston,Tindal,  Chubb,  and 
Bolingbroke,  are  all  guilty  of  the  vile  hypocrisy  of  professing  to 
love  and  reverence  Christianity,  while  they  are  employed  in  no 
other  design  than  to  destroy  it.  Such  faithless  professions,  such 
gross  violations  of  truth,  in  Christians,  would  have  been  proclaim- 
ed to  the  universe  by  these  very  writers,  as  infamous  desertions 
of  principle  and  decency.  Is  it  less  infamous  in  themselves  ?  All 
hypocrisy  is  detestable;  but  I  know  of  none  so  detestable  as  that 
which  is  coolly  written,  with  full  premeditation,  by  a  man  of  tal- 
ents, assuming  the  character  of  a  moral  and  religious  instructor. 
Truth  is  a  virtue  perfectly  defined,  mathematically  clear,  and 
completely  understood  by  all  men  of  common  sense.  There  can 
be  no  baitings  between  uttering  truth  and  falsehood;  no  doubt,  no 
mistakes,  as  between  piety  and  enthusiasm,  frugality  and  parsimo- 
ny, generosity  and  profusion.  Transgression,  therefore,  is  always 
a  known,  definite,  deliberate  villainy.  In  ihe  sudden  moment  of 
strong  temptation,  in  the  hour  of  unguarded  attack,  in  the  flutter 
and  trepidation  of  unexpected  alarm,  the  best  man  may,  perhaps, 
be  surprised  in  to  any  sin:  but  he  who  can  coolly,  of  steady  de- 
sign, and  with  no  unusual  impulse,  utter  falsehood,  and  vend  hypo- 
crisy, is  not  far  from  finished  depravity." 

"  The  morals  of  Rochester  and  Wharton  need  no  comment. 
Woolston  was  a  gross  blasphemer.  Blount  solicited  his  sister-in- 
law  to  marry  him,  and  being  refused,  shot  himself.  Tindal  was 
originally  a  Protestant,  then  turned  Papist,  then  Protestant  again, 
merely  to  suit  the  times;  and  was  at  the  same  time  infamous  for 
vice  in  general,  and  the  total  want  of  principle.     He  is  said  to 

*  Mirabeau's  Speeches,  Vol.  II.  pp.  ;269— 274. 


Chapter  V.J  AND  UNBELFEVERS.  60 

have  died  with  this  prayer  in  his  mouth,  '  If  there  be  a  God,  I 
desire  that  he  may  have  mercy  on  me.'  Hobbes  wrrote  hi« 
Leviathan  to  serve  the  cause  of  Charles  I.  but  findine;  him  fail 
of  success,  he  turned  it  to  the  defence  of  Cromwell,  and  made  a 
merit  of  this  fact  to  the  usurper;  as  Hobbes  himself  unblushingly 
declared  to  Lord  Chirendon.  Morgan  had  no  reg;ird  to  truth,  as 
is  evident  tVom  his  numerous  falsifications  of  scripture,  as  well  as 
from  the  vile  hypocrisy  of  professing  himself  a  Christian  in  those 
very  writings  in  which  he  labours  to  destroy  Christianity.  Voltaire, 
in  a  Letter  now  remaining,  requested  his  friend  D'Alembert  to  tell 
for  him  a  direct  and  palpable  lie,  by  denying  that  he  was  the  author 
of  the  Philosophical  Dictionary.  D'Alembert,  in  his  answer,  in- 
formed him  that  he  had  told  the  lie.  Voltaire  has,  indeed,  ex- 
pressed his  own  moral  character  perfectly  in  the  following  words: 
'  Monsieur  Abbe,  I  must  be  read,  no  matter  whether  1  am  believed 
or  not.'  He  also  solemnly  professed  to  believe  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion, although  at  the  same  time  he  doubted  the  existence  of  a  God. 
Hume  died  as  a  fool  dieth.  The  day  before  his  death  he  spent  in 
a  pitiful  and  affected  unconcern  about  this  tremendous  subject, 
playing  at  whist,  reading  Lucian's  Dialogues,  and  making  silly 
attempts  at  wit,  concerning  his  interview  with  Charon,  the  heathen 
ferry-man  of  Hades."* 

Collins,  though  he  had  no  belief  in  Christianity,  yet  qualified 
himself  for  civil  office  by  partaking  of  the  Lord's  supper.  Shaftes- 
bury did  the  same:  and  the  same  is  done  by  hundreds  of  Infidels 
to  this  day.  Yet  these  are  the  men  who  are  continually  declaim- 
ing against  the  hypocrisy  of  priests!  Godwin  is  not  only  a  lewd 
character,  by  his  own  confession;  but  the  unblushing  advocate  of 
lewdness.  And  as  lo  Paine,  he  is  well  known  to  hare  been  a  pro- 
fane swearer,  and  a  drunkard.  We  have  evidence  upon  oath  that 
"  religion  was  his  favorite  topic  when  intoxicated;"!  and  from  the 
scurrility  of  the  performance,  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  was  fre- 
quently in  this  situation  while  writing  his  Age  of  Reason. 

•  T  he  last  two  paragraphs  are  taken  from  Dr.  Dwight's  excellent  Discour- 
ses on  The  Nature  and  Danger  of  Infidel  Philosophy,  pp.  4'> — 47. 

t  See  Trial  of  T   Taine,  at  Guildhall,  for  a  Lilel.  kc.  p.  4'J. 


70  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  [Part  L 

I  shall  conclude  this  catalogue  of  worthies  with  a  brief  abstract 
of  the  Confessions  of  J.  J.  Rousseau.  After  a  good  education,  in 
the  Protestant  religion,  he  was  put  apprentice.  Finding  his  situ- 
ation disagreeable  to  him,  he  felt  a  strong  propensity  to  vice;  in- 
clining him  to  covet,  dissemble,  lie,  and  at  length  to  steal;  a  pro- 
pensity of  which  he  was  never  able  afterwards  to  divest  himeelf. 
"  I  have  been  a  rogue,"  says  he,  "  and  am  so  still  sometimes,  for 
trifles  which  I  had  rather  take  than  ask  for."* 

He  abjured  the  protestant  religion,  and  entered  the  hospital  of 
the  Catechumens  at  Turin  to  be  iiistructed  in  that  of  the  Catholics; 
"  For  which  in  return,"  says  he,  "  I  was  to  receive  subsistence. 
From  this  interested  conversion,"  he  adds,  "  nothing  remained 
but  the  remembrance  of  my  having  been  both  a  dupe  and  an  apos- 
tate." t 

After  this,  he  resided  with  a  Madame  de  Warrens,  with  whom 
he  "  lived  in  the  greatest  possible  familiarity."  This  lady  often 
suggested,  that  there  would  be  no  justice  in  the  Supreme  Being, 
should  he  be  strictly  just  tu  us  ;  because,  not  having  bestowed 
what  was  necessary  to  make  us  essentially  good,  it  would  be  re- 
quiring more  than  he  had  given.  She  was,  nevertheless,  a  very 
good  Catholic,  or  pretended  at  least  to  be  one,  and  certainly  de- 
sired to  be  such.  If  there  had  been  no  Christian  morality  estab- 
lished, Rosseau  supposes  she  would  have  lived  as  though  regulated 
by  its  principles.  All  her  morality,  however,  was  subordinate  to 
the  principles  of  M.  Tavel ;  (who  first  seduced  her  from  conjugal 
fidelity  by  urging,  in  effect,  that  exposure  was  the  only  crime,)  or 
rather,  she  saw  nothing  in  religion  that  contradicted  them.  Ros- 
seau was  far  enough  from  being  of  ihis  opinion  ;  yei  he  confessed 
he  dared  not  combat  the  arguments  of  the  lady  :  nor  is  it  supposa- 
ble  he  could,  as  he  appears  to  have  been  acting  on  the  same  prin- 
ciples at  the  time.  "Finding  in  her"  he  adds,  "all  those  ideas 
/  had  occasion  for  to  secure  me  from  the  fears  of  death,  and  its  fu- 
ture consequences,  I  tirew  contidence  and  security  from  this 
source.' 


"  + 
+ 


*  Confessions,  Loudon  l'.d.  1 790,  Vol.  I.  pp.  52.  55,  C8. 
tVol.  I.  pp.  125,  12G.  ±Vol.  II.  pp.  88,  103— lOG 


(HAi-TKH  V.J  AND  UNBELIKVKRS.  7| 

The  wriliniis  ol  Toil  Royal,  anil  thoso  of  the  Oratory,  made  luiii 
hair  a  Jan«eni8t ;  and  notwithstanding  sill  Ids  confidence,  their  harsh 
theory  sometimes  ahirmed  iiim.  A  dread  of  hell,  which,  till  then, 
lie  had  never  much  apprehiMided,  by  little  and  little  disturbed  his 
security,  and  had  not  IMadatne  de  \Varrens  tranquilized  his  soul, 
would  at  length  lui\  e  been  too  much  for  him.  His  confesfor  also, 
4  Jesuit,  contributed  all  in  his  power  to  keep  up  his  hopes.* 

After  this,  he  became  familiar  with  another  female,  Theresa. 
He  began  by  declaring  to  her  that  he  would  never  either  abandon 
or  marry  her.  Finding  her  piegnont  with  her  first  child,  and 
hearine:  it  observed  in  an  ealinp;  house,  that  he  who  had  best  filled 
the  Foundlhig  Hospital,  zvas  nhvays  the  most  applauded,  "  I  said  to 
myself,"  he  tells  us,  ''  since  it  is  the  custom  of  the  country,  they 
who  live  here  may  adopt  it.  I  cheerfully  determined  upon  it 
without  the  least  scruple  :  and  the  only  one  1  had  to  overcome 
was  that  of  Theresa  ;  whom,  with  the  greatest  imaginable  difli- 
culty,  I  persuaded  to  comply."  The  year  following  a  similar  in- 
convenience was  remedied  by  the  same  expedient  :  no  more  re- 
flection on  his  part,  nor  approbation  on  that  of  the  mother.  "  She 
obliged  with  trembling.  My  fault,"  says  he,  "  was  great ;  but  it 
was  an  error."t 

He  resolved  on  settling  at  Geneva  :  and,  on  going  thither  and 
being  mortified  at  his  exclusion  from  the  rights  of  a  citizen  by  the 
profession  of  a  religion  different  from  his  forefathers,  he  determin- 
ed openly  to  return  to  the  latter.  "I  thought,"  says  he,  "the 
gospel  being  the  same  for  every  Christian  ;  and  the  only  differ- 
ence in  religions  the  result  of  the  explanations  given  by  men  to 
that  which  they  did  not  understand,  it  was  the  exclusive  right  of 
the  sovereign  power  in  every  country  to  fix  the  mode  of  worship, 
and  these  unintelligible  opinions  ;  and  that,  consequently,  it  was 
the  duty  of  a  citizen  to  admit  the  one,  and  conform  to  the  other,  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  the  law."  Accordingly,  at  Geneva  he 
renounced  Popery. | 

'  \'ol  II.  p.  127.        t  Part  U.  Vol.  I.  pp.  123.  154,  155.  183.  187.  315, 
tPaWH.  Vol.  I.  pp.  263.  264. 


72  CONDUCT  OF  BELIEVERS  AND  UNBELIEVERS.  [Part I. 

After  passing  twenty  years  with  Theresa,  he  nnade  her  his  wife. 

He  appears  to  have  intrigued  with  a  Madame  de  H .     Of  ii^is 

desires  after  that  lady  he  says,  "Guilty  without  remorse,  I  soon 
became  so  without  measure."* 

Such,  according  to  his  own  account,  was  the  life  of  uprightness 
and  honour  which  was  to  expiate  for  a  theft  which  he  had  commit- 
ted when  a  young  man,  and  laid  to  a  female  servant,  by  which  she 
lost  her  place  and  character.!  Such  was  Rosseau,  the  man  whom 
the  rulers  of  the  French  nation  have  delighted  to  honour ;  and 
who,  for  writing  this  account,  had  vanity  and  presumption  to  ex- 
pect the  applause  of  his  Creator.  ''  Whenever  the  last  trumpet 
shall  sound,"  says  he,  "  I  will  present  myself  before  the  sovereign 
Judge,  with  this  book  in  my  hand,  and  loudly  proclaim;  Thus 
have  I  acted  ;  these  were  my  thoughts  ;  such  was  1.  Power 
eternal !  Assemble  round  thy  throne  the  innumerable  throng  of 
my  fellow-mortals.  Let  them  listen  to  my  confessions,  let  them 
blush  at  my  depravity,  let  them  tremble  at  my  sufferings,  let  each 
in  his  turn  expose,  with  equal  sincerity,  the  failings,  the  wanrler- 
ings  of  his  heart ;  and,  if  he  dare,  aver,  I  was  better  than  that 


man.    ^. 


*  Vol.  I.  pp.  311.  378.         +  Vol.  I.  pp.  155.  160.         $  Vol.  I.  p.  1. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CHRISTIANITY  HAS  NOT  ONLV  PROnLCKD  GOOD  EFFKO'lS  IN  THOSE 
WHO  CORDIALLY  BELIEVE  IT,  BUT  HAS  GIVEN  TO  THE  MORALS 
OF  SOCIETY  AT  LAROE  A  TONE,  WHICH  DEISM  SO  FAR  AS  IT  OPE- 
RATES,   GOES    TO    COUNTERACT. 


No  man  walks  through  life  without  a  rule  of  some  kind,  by 
which  his  conduct  is  directed,  and  his  inclinations  restrained. 
They  who  fear  not  God  are  influenced  by  a  regard  to  the  opinions 
of  men.  To  avoid  the  censure,  and  gain  the  applause  of  the  public, 
is  the  summit  of  their  ambition. 

Public  opinion  has  an  influence,  not  only  on  the  conduct  of  in- 
dividuals in  a  community,  but  on  the  formation  of  its  laws.  Legis- 
lators will  not  only  conform  their  systems  to  what  the  humours  of 
the  people  will  bear,  but  will  themselves  incline  to  omit  those  vir- 
tues which  are  the  most  ungrateful,  and  to  spare  those  vices  which 
are  the  most  agreeable. 

Nor  is  this  all:  so  great  is  the  influence  of  public  opinion  that  ii 
will  direct  the  conduct  of  a  community  against  its  own  laws. 
There  are  obsolete  statutes,  <is  we  all  know,  the  breach  of  which 
cannot  be  punished:  and  even  statutes  which  are  not  obsolete, 
where  they  operate  against  this  principle,  have  but  little  effect; 
witness  the  connivance  at  the  atrocious  practice  of  duelling. 

Now,  if  public  opinion  be  so  potent  a  principle,  whatever  has  u 
prevailing  influence  in  forming  it,  must  give  a  deci(le<l  tone  to  what 
are  considered  as  the  morals  of  a  nation.  I  say,  to  what  arc  con- 
sidered-as  the  morals  of  a  nation:  for,  strictly  speaking,  so  much  of 
the  love  of  God  and  man,  as  prevails  in  a  nation,  so  much  morality 
is  there  in  it,  and  no  more.     But,  as  we  can    judge  of  love  only  In 

Vo...  III.  to 


74  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  fPARx  I. 

its  expressions,  we  call  those  actions  moral,  though  it  is  possible 
their  morality  may  be  only  counterfeit,  by  which  the  love  of  God 
and  man  is  ordinarily  expressed.  If  we  perform  those  actions 
which  are  the  ordinary  expressions  of  love,  from  some  other  mo- 
tive, our  good  deeds  are  thereby  rendered  evil  in  the  sight  of  Him 
who  views  things  as  they  are  :  nevertheless  what  we  do  may  be 
equally  beneficial  to  society  as  though  we  acted  from  the  purest 
motive.  In  this  indirect  way  Christianity  has  operated  more  than 
anything  that  has  been  called  by  the  name  of  religion,  or  by  any 
other  name,  towards  meliorating  the  state  of  mankind. 

It  has  been  observed,  and  with  great  propriety,  that,  in  order  to 
know  what  religion  has  done  for  an  individual,  we  must  consider 
what  he  would  have  been  without  it.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a 
nation,  or  of  the  world.  What  would  the  nations  of  Europe  have 
been  at  this  time,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  introduction  of  Christi- 
anity ?  It  cannot  reasonably  be  pretended  that  they  would  have 
been  in  any  better  situation,  as  to  morality,  than  that  in  which  they 
were  previously  to  this  event :  for  there  is  no  instance  of  any  peo- 
ple having  by  their  own  efforts,  emerged  from  idolatry,  and  the 
immoralities  which  attend  it.  Now,  as  to  what  that  state  was, 
some  notice  has  been  taken  already,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  princi- 
ples and  lives  of  the  old  philosophers.  To  this  I  shall  add  a  brief 
review  of  the  state  ofsociety  among  them. 

Great  praises  are  bestowed  by  Phitarch  on  the  customs  and 
manners  of  the  Lacedemonians.  Yet  the  same  writer  acknowl-. 
edges,  that  theft  was  encouraged, in  their  children  by  a  law  ;  and 
that  in  order  to  "  sharpen  their  wits,  to  render  them  crafty  and 
subtle,  and  to  train  them  up  in  all  sorts  of  wiles  and  cunning, 
watchfulness  and  circumspection,  whereby  they  were  more  apt  to 
serve  them  in  their  wars,  which  was  upon  the  matter  the  whole 
profession  of  this  Commonwealth.  And  if  at  any  time  they  were 
taken  in  the  act  of  stealing,  they  were  most  ceitainly  punished 
with  rods,  and,  the  penance  of  fasting ;  not  because  they 
esteemed  the  stealth  criminal,  but  because  they  wanted  skill  and 
cunning  in  the  management  and  conduct  of  it."*  Hence,  as  might 
be  expected,  and  as  Herodotus  observes,  their  actions  were  gen 
*  Plutarch's  Mora]?,  Vol.  I.  p.  06. 


CHAPTKn  VI. j         ON  THE  STATE  OF  SOCIETY.  ^v, 

crally  contrary  to  their  words  ;  and    there    was    no   dependance 
upoD  them  in  any  matter. 

As  to  their  chastity,  there  were  common  tatlis  in  which  the  men 
and  women  bathed  together  ;  and  it  was  ordered  that  the  young 
maidens  should  appear  naked  in  the  public  exercises,  as  well  as 
the  young  men,  and  that  they  should  dance  naked  with  them  at  the 
solemn  festivals  and  sacritices.  Husbands  also  were  allowed  to  im- 
part the  use  of  their  wives  to  handsome  and  deserving  men,  in 
order  to  the  producing  of  healthy  and  vigorous  children  for  the 
Commonwealth. 

Children  which  were  deformed,  or  of  a  bad  constitution,  were 
murdered.  This  inhuman  custom  whs  romnion  all  over  Greece  ; 
so  much  so,  that  it  was  reckoned  a  singular  thing  among  the  The- 
bans,  that  the  law  forbad  any  Theban  to  expose  his  infant,  under 
pain  of  death.  This  practice,  with  that  of  procuring  abortion 
were  encouraged  by  Plato  and  Aristotle. 

The  unnatural  love  of  boys  was  so  common  in  Greece,  than  in 
many  places  it  was  sanctioned  by  tlie  public  laws,  of  which  Aristot- 
tle  gives  the  reason  :  namely,  to  prevent  their  having  too  many 
children.  Maximus  Tyrius  celebrates  it  as  a  most  singular  heroic 
act  of  Agesilaus,  that,  being  in  love  with  a  beautiful  barbarian  boy, 
he  suffered  it  to  go  no  farther  than  looking  t  him  ai.d  admiring 
him.  Epictetus  also  praises  Socrates  in  this  manner :  "  Go  to 
Socrates,  and  see  him  lying  by  Alcibiades,  yet  slighting  his  youth 
and  beauty.  Consider  what  a  victory  he  was  conscious  of  obtain- 
ing!  What  an  Olympic  prize!  So  that,  by  heaven,  one  might 
justly  salute  him.  Hail,  incredibly  great,  universal  victor  !"  What 
an  implication  docs  such  language  contain  of  the  manners  of  those 
times ! 

The  Romans  were  allowed  by  Komulus  to  destroy  all  their 
female  children,  except  the  eldest :  and  even  with  regard  to 
their  male  children,  if  they  were  deformed,  or  monstrous,  he  per- 
mitted the  parents  to  expose  them,  after  having  shown  them  to 
five  of  their  nearest  neighbours.  Such  was  their  cruelty  to  their 
slaves,  that  it  was  not  unusual  for  their  masters  to  put  such  of  them 
as  were  old,  sick,  and  infirm,  into  an  island  in  the  Tiber,  where 
they  left  them  to  perish.     So  far  did   some  of  them   carry  their 


7G  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  [Paut  1. 

luxury  and  wantonness  as  to  drown  them  in  the  fish-ponds,  that  they 
might  be  devoured  by  the  fish,  to  make  the  flesh  more  delicate ! 

Gladiatory  shows  were  common  among  them;  in  which  a  number 
of  slaves  were  engaged  to  fight  for  the  diversion  of  the  multitude, 
till  each  one  slew  or  was  slain  by  his  antagonist.  Of  these  brutish 
exercises  the  people  were  extremely  fond  ;  even  the  women  ran 
eagerly  after  them,  taking  pleasure  in  seeing  the  combatants  kill 
one  another,  desirous  only  that  they  should  fall  genteelly,  or  in  an 
agreeable  attitude  !  They  were  exhibited  at  the  funerals  of  great 
and  rich  men,  and  on  many  other  occasions.  So  frequent  did  they 
become,  that  no  war,  it  is  said,  caused  such  slaughter  of  man- 
kind as  did  these  sports  of  pleasure,  throughout  the  several  prov- 
inces of  the  Roman  empire. 

That  odious  and  unnatural  vice,  which  prevailed  among  the 
Greeks,  was  also  common  among  the  Romans.  Cicero  introduces, 
without  any  mark  of  disapprobation,  Cotta,  a  man  of  the  first  rank 
and  genius,  freely  and  familiarly  owning  to  other  Romans  of  the 
same  quality,  tliat  worse  than  beastly  vice  as  practised  by  himself, 
and  quoting  the  authorities  of  ancient  philosophers  in  vindication 
of  it.  It  appears  also  from  Seneca,  that  in  his  time  it  was  practised 
at  Rome,  openly  and  without  shame.  He  speaks  of  flocks  and 
troops  of  boys,  distinguished  by  their  colours  and  nations,  and  that 
great  care  was  taken  to  train  them  up  for  that  detestable  employ- 
ment. 

The  religious  rites  performed  in  honor  of  Venus,  in  Cyprus,  and 
at  Aphac,  on  Mount  Libanus,  consisted  in  lewdness  of  the  grossest 
kinds.  The  young  people,  of  both  sexes,  crowded  from  all  parts 
to  those  sinks  of  pollution;  and,  filling  the  groves  and  temples  with 
their  shameless  practises,  committed  whoredom  by  thousands,  out 
of  pure  devotion. 

All  the  Babylonian  women  were  obliged  to  prostitute  them- 
selves once  in  their  lives,  at  the  temple  of  Venus  or  Mylitta,  to  the 
first  man  that  asked  them:  and  the  money  earned  by  this  means 
was  always  esteemed  sacred. 

Human  sacrifices  were  offered  up  in  almost  all  heathen  coun- 
tries. Children  were  burnt  alive  by  their  parents,  to  Baal,  Mo- 
loch, and  other  deities.     The  Carthaginians,  in  times  of  public 


Chapter  \  J.]         ON  THE  STATE  OF  SOCIETY.  77 

calamity,  not  only  burnt  alive  the  cliildreii  of  the  best  families  to 
Saturn,  and  that  by  hundreds,  but  pometimes  sacrificed  themselves 
in  the  same  manner,  in  great  numbers.  Here  in  Britain,  and  in 
Gaul,  it  was  a  common  practice  to  surround  a  man  with  a  kind  of 
wicker-work,  and  burn  liim  to  death,  in  honor  of  their  Gods.* 

In  addition  to  the  above,  Mr.  Hume  has  written  as  follows: 
"  What  cruel  tyrants  were  the  iiomans  over  the  world,  during  the 
time  of  their  Commonwealth  !  It  is  true,  they  had  laws  to  prevent 
oppression  in  their  provincial  mai;i<trates;  but  Cicero  informs  us 
that  the  Romans  could  not  better  consult  the  interest  of  the  prov- 
inces than  by  repealing  these  very  laws.  For  in  that  case,  says 
he,  our  magistrates  having  entire  impunity,  would  plunder  no  more 
than  would  satisfy  their  own  rapaciousness:  whereas,  at  present, 
they  must  also  satisfy  that  of  their  judges,  and  of  all  the  great  men 
of  Rome,  of  whose  ])rotection  they  stand  in  need." 

The  same  writer,  who  certainly  was  not  prejudiced  against 
them,  speaking  of  their  Commonwealth  in  its  more  early  times, 
farther  observes,  "  The  most  illustrious  period  of  the  Roman  his- 
tory, considered  in  a  political  view,  is  that  between  the  beginning 
of  the  first  and  the  end  of  the  last  Punic  war;  yet  at  this  very  time, 
the  horrid  practice  of  poisoning  was  so  common,  that  during  part 
of  a  season,  a  praetor  punished  capitally,  for  this  crime,  above 
three  thousand  persons  in  a  part  of  Italy;  and  found  informations  of 
this  nature  still  multiplying  upon  him !  So  depraved  in  private 
life,"  adds  Mr.  Hume,  "  were  that  people,  whom,  in  their  histo- 
ry, we  so  much  admire. "t 

From  the  foregoing  facts,  we  may  form  some  judgment  of  the 
justness  of  Mr.  Faine's  remarks.  "  We  know  nothing,"  says  he. 
'•  of  what  the  ancient  Gentile  world  was  before  the  time  of  thi- 
Jews,  whose  practice  has  been  to  calumniate  and  blacken  the  char- 

*  The  authorilioson  which  this  brief  statement  of  facts  is  foundeil,  may  be 
seen  in  Dr.  Leland's  Advanta -es  ami  Necessity  of  the  CJiristian  flevelation. 
Vol.  n.  Part  II.  Chap.  III.  IV.  where  t>ie  subject  is  more  particularly  handled. 
See  abo,  Deism  Revealed,  Vol  1.  pp.  77,  78. 

+  Es8ay  on  Politics  a  Science. 


;B  effects  of  CHllISl'IANlTY  [I'art  I. 

acter  of  all  other  nations.  As  far  as  we  know  to  the  contrary,  they 
were  a  just  and  moral  people,  and  not  addicted,  like  the  Jews,  to 
cruelty  and  revenge,  but  of  whose  profession  of  faith  we  are  un- 
acquainted. It  appears  to  have  been  their  custom  to  personify 
both  virtue  and  vice  by  statues  and  images,  as  is  done  now-a-days 
by  statuary  and  painting:  but  it  does  not  follow  from  this  that  they 
worshipped  them  any  more  than  we  do."* 

Unless  heathens,  before  the  time  of  the  Jews,  were  totally  dif- 
ferent from  what  they  were  in  all  after  ages,  there  can  be  no  rea- 
sonable doubt  of  their  worshipping  a  plurality  of  deities,  of  which 
images  were  supposed  to  be  the  representations.  Mr.  Paine  him- 
self allows,  and  that  in  the  same  performance,  that  prior  to  the 
Christian  era  they  were  "  Idolaters,  and  had  twenty  or  thirty 
thousand  gods."t  Yet,  by  his  manner  of  speaking  in  this  place, 
he  manifestly  wishes  to  insinuate,  in  behalf  of  all  the  heathen  na- 
tions, that  they  might  worship  idols  no  more  than  we  do.  It  might 
be  worth  while  for  this  writer,  methinks,  to  bestow  a  little  more 
attention  to  the  improvement  of  his  memory. 

With  respect  to  their  being  "just  and  moral  people,"  unless 
they  were  extremely  different  before  the  time  of  the  Jews  from 
what  they  were  in  all  after  ages,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt 
of  their  being  what  the  sacred  writers  have  represented  them.  If 
those  writers  have  said  nothing  worse  of  them  than  has  been  said 
by  the  most  early  and  authentic  historians  from  among  themselves, 
it  will  be  easy  for  an  impartial  reader  to  decide  whether  heathens 
have  been  "  calumniated  and  blackened"  by  the  Jewish  writers, 
or  the  Jewish  writers  by  Mr.  Paine. 

But  it  is  not  by  the  state  of  the  ancient  heathens  only  that  we 
discover  the  importance  of  Christianity.  A  large  part  of  the  world 
is  still  in  the  same  condition;  and  the  same  immoralities  abound 
among  them,  which  are  reported  to  have  abounded  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans. 

I  am  aware  that  deistical  writers  have  laboured  to  hold  up  the 
modern,  as  well  as  the  ancient  heathens,  in  a  very  favourable 
light.     In  various  anonymous  publications,  much  is  said  of  their 

•*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  II.  pp.  39,  40.         t  Ibid.  p.  5. 


Chapter  \  1.]  ON  TIIK  STATE  OF  SOCIETY.  79 

simplicity  and  virtue.  One  of  them  suggests,  that  the  Chinese  are 
so  "  superior  to  Christians  in  relation  to  moral  virtues,  that  it  may 
seem  necessary  that  tliey  shouM  send  missionaries  to  teach  us  the 
use  and  practice  of  Natural  Theology,  as  we  send  missionaries  to 
them  to  teach  them  Revealed  Religion."*  Yea,  anri  some  who 
wish  to  rank  as  Christians,  have,  on  this  ground,  objected  to  all 
missionary  undertakings  among  the  heathen.  Let  us  examine  this 
matter  a  little  closely. 

Almost  all  the  accounts  which  are  favourable  to  heathen  virtue, 
are  either  written  by  the  adversaries  of  Christianity,  and  with  a 
design  to  disparage  it;  or  by  navigators,  and  travellers,  who  have 
touched  at  particul  ir  places,  and  made  their  reports  according  to 
the  treatment  they  have  met  with,  rather  than  from  a  regard  to 
universal  righteousness.  An  authentic  report  of  the  morals  of  a 
people,  requires  to  be  given,  not  from  a  transient  visit,  but  from  a 
continued  residence  among  them  ;  not  from  their  occasional  treat- 
ment of  a  stranger,  but  from  their  general  character;  and  not 
from  having  an  end  to  answer,  but  with  a  rigid  regard  to  truth. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  far  greater  part  of  these  repre- 
sentations respect  people  with  whom  we  have  little  or  no  acquain- 
tance ;  and  therefore,  whatever  the  truth  may  be,  are  less  liable  to 
contradiction.  As  to  China,  Hindostan,  and  some  other  parts  of 
the  world,  with  whose  moral  state  we  have  had  the  means  of 
acquiring  some  considerable  degree  of  knowledge,  the  praises 
bestowed  on  them  by  our  adversaries  have  proved  to  be  unfound- 
ed. From  the  accounts  of  those  who  have  resided  in  China,  there 
does  not  seecm  to  be  much  reason  to  boast  of  their  virtue.  On 
the  contrary,  their  morals  appear  to  be  full  as  bad  as  those  of  the 
ancient  heathens.  It  is  allowed,  they  take  great  care  of  their  out- 
ward behaviour,  more  perhaps  than  is  taken  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world  besides  ;  that  whatever  they  do  or  say  is  so  contrived 
that  it  may  have  a  good  ap|)earance,  please  all,  and  offend  none  ; 
and  that  they  excel  in  outward  modesty,  gravity,  good  words, 
rourtesy,  and  civility.  But,  notwithstanding  this,  it  is  said  that 
'he  sin  against  nature  is  extremely  common — that  drunkenness  is 

*   (hriitiaiiity  as  old  as  the  Creation,  pp.  36G.  o67. 


80  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  I. 

considered  as  no  crime — that  every  one  takes  as  many  concubines 
as  he  can  keep — that  many  of  the  common  people  pawn  their 
wives  in  time  of  need ;  and  some  lend  them  for  a  month,  or  more, 
or  less,  according  as  they  agree — that  marriage  is  dissolved  on  the 
most  trifling  occasions — that  sons  and  daughters  are  sold  whenever 
their  parents  please,  and  that  is  frequently — that  many  of  the  rich, 
as  well  as  the  poor,  when  they  are  delivered  of  daughters,  stifle 
and  kill  them — that  those  who  are  more  tender-hearted  will  leave 
them  under  a  vessel,  where  they  expire  in  great  misery — and 
finally,  that  notwithstanding  this,  they  all,  except  the  learned, 
plead  humanity  and  compassion  against  killing  other  living  crea- 
tures, thinking  it  a  cruel  thing  to  take  that  life  which  they  cannot 
give.  Montesquieu  says,  ''  The  Chinese,  whose  whole  life  is  gov- 
erned by  the  established  rites,  are  the  most  void  of  common  hon- 
esty of  any  people  upon  earth  ;  and  the  laws,  though  they  do  not 
allow  them  to  rob  or  to  spoil  by  violence,  yet  permit  them  to  cheat 
and  defraud."  With  this  agrees  the  account  given  of  them  in 
Lord  Anson's  Voyages,  and  by  other  navigators — that  lying,  creat- 
ing, stealing,  and  all  the  little  arts  of  chicanery  abound  among 
them;  and  that,  if  you  detect  them  in  a  fraud,  they  calmly  plead 
the  custom  of  the  country*  Such  are  the  people  by  whom  we  are 
to  be  taught  the  use  and  practice  of  natural  theology  ! 

If  credit  could  be  given  to  what  some  writers  have  advanced, 
we  might  suppose  the  moral  philosophy  and  virtuous  conduct  of 
the  Hindoos  to  be  worthy  of  being  a  pattern  to  the  world.  The 
rules  by  which  they  govern  their  conduct  are,  as  we  have  been 
told,"  Not  to  tell  false  tales,  nor  to  utter  any  thing  that  is  untrue  ; 
not  to  steal  any  thing  from  others,  be  it  ever  so  little  ;  not  to  de- 
traud  any  by  their  cunning,  in  bargains,  or  contracts  ;  not  to  op- 
press any  when  they  have  power  to  do  it."t 

Very  opposite  accounts,  however,  are  given  by  numerous  and 
respectable  witnesses,  and  who  do  not  appear  to  have  written 
under  the  influence  of  prejudice.     I  shall  select  but  two  or  three. 

*  See  Leland's  Advantages  and  Necessity  of  Revelation,  Vol.  II  Part  II. 
Chap.  IV. 

*  Harris's  Voyages  and  Travels.  Vol.  I,  Chap. II. }  11,  12. 


C'HAPTKR  VI.]  ON  THE  BTATE  OK  SOCIETY.  gl 

Francis  Bernier,  an  intelligent  Frencli  traveller,  speaking  of  the 
Hindoos,  says,  "  I  know  not  whether  there  be  in  the  world  a  more 
covetous  and  sordid  nation. — The  Br.ihmins  keep  these  people  in 
their  errors  and  superstitions,  and  scruple  nut  lo  coininil  (ricks  and 
villainies  so  infamous,  that  I  could  never  have  believed  them,  if  1 
had  not  made  an  ample  inquiry  into  them."* 

Governor  Holivcll  thus  characterizes  them:  "A  race  of  peo- 
ple, who,  tVoui  tht'ir  infancy,  are  utter  strangers  to  the  idea  of 
common  faith  and  honesty." — "  This  is  the  situation  of  the  bulk 
of  the  ptiiplu  of  Indoiitan,  as  well  as  of  the  modern  Brahmins  : 
amongit  the  latter,  if  we  except  one  in  a  thousand,  we  give  them 
over  measure.  The  Gentoos  in  general  are  as  degenerate,  super- 
stitious, litigious,  and  wicked  a  people,  as  any  race  of  people  in 
the  known  world,  if  not  eminently  more  so  ;  especially  the  com- 
mon run  of  Brahmins  ;  and  we  can  truly  aver,  that,  during  almost 
tive  years  that  we  presided  in  the  Judicial  Cutchery  Court  of  Cal- 
cutta, never  any  murder,  or  other  atrocious  crime,  came  before 
us,  but  it  was  proved  in  the  end  a  Brahmin  was  at  the  bottom 
ofit."t 

Mr.  afterwards  Sir  John  Shore,  and  (iovornor  General  of  Ben- 
gal, speaking  of  the  same  people,  says,  "A  man  must  belong 
acquainte<l  with  them  before  he  can  believe  them  capable  of  that 
barefaced  falsehood,  servile  adulation,  and  deliberate  deception, 
which  they  daily  practice. — It  is  the  business  of  all,  from  the 
Kyott  to  the  Dewan,  to  conceal  and  deceive  ;  the  simplest  matters 
of  fact  are  designedly  covered  with  a  veil,  through  which  no  human 
understanding  can  penetrate."  ^ 

In  perfect  agreement  with  these  accounts  are  others  which  arc 
constantly  received  from  persons  of  observation  and  probity,  now- 
residing  in  India.  Of  ihese  the  following  are  extracts  :  "  Lving, 
theft,  whoredom,  and  deceit,  are  sins  for  which  the  Hindoos  are 
notorious.     There  is   not   one   man  in  a  thousand,  \v!io  docs    not 

*  Voyages  dc  Francois  Beniicr,  Tome  I,  pp.  150.  162.  et  Tome  II.  p.  10,, 

*  Holweil's  Historical  event?,  Vol.  I.  p.  228.  Vol.  II.  p.  1^1 

X  Parliamentary  Proceedings  aguin't  Mr.  Hastini,'?.  .Appendix  lo  '.'ol.  11.  j . 
6.5. 

V(,T,.  ur.  II 


32  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  1. 

make  lying  his  constant  practice.  Their  thoughts  of  God  are  so 
very  light,  that  they  only  consider  him  as  a  sort  of  plaything. 
Avarice  and  servility  are  so  united  in  almost  every  individual,  that 
cheating,  juggling,  and  lying,  are  esteemed  no  sins  with  them  ; 
and  the  best  among  them,  though  they  speak  ever  so  great  a  false- 
hood, yet  it  is  not  considered  as  an  evil,  unless  you  first  charge 
them  to  speak  the  truth.  When  they  defraud  you  ever  so  much, 
and  you  charge  them  with  it,  they  coolly  answer.  It  is  the  custom  of 
the  country — In  England,  the  poor  receive  the  benefit  of  the  gos- 
pel, in  being  fed  and  clothed  by  those  who  know  not  by  what 
principles  they  are  moved.  For  whe«  the  gospel  is  generally  ac- 
knowledged in  a  land,  it  puts  some  to  fear,  and  others  to  shame  ; 
so  that  to  relieve  their  own  smart  they  provide  for  the  poor:  but 
here,  O  miserable  state  !  I  have  found  the  pathway  stopped  up 
by  sick  and  wounded  people,  perishing  with  hunger  ;  and  that  in 
a  populous  neighbourhood,  where  numbers  pass  by,  some  singing, 
others  talking,  but  none  showing  mercy  ;  as  though  they  were 
dying  weeds,  and  not  dying  men  "* 

Comparing  these  accounts,  a  reader  might  be  apt  to  suppose 
that  the  people  must  have  greatly  degenerated  since  their  laws 
were  framed  ;  but  the  truth  is,  the  laws  are  nearly  as  corrupt  as 
the  people.  Those  who  examine  the  Hindoo  Code,]  will  find 
them  so;  and  will  perceive  that  there  is  scarcely  a  species  of  wick- 
edness which  they  do  not  tolerate,  especially  in  favour  of  the 
Brahmuns,  of  which  order  of  men,  it  may  be  presumed,  were  the 
first  framers  of  the  constitution. 

Let  the  reader  judge,  from  this  example  of  the  Hindoos,  what 
degree  of  credit  is  due  to  antichristian  historians,  when  they  under- 
fake  to  describe  the  virtues  of  heathens. 

From  this  brief  statement  of  facts,  it  is  not  very  difficult  to  per- 
ceive somewhat  of  that  which  Christianity  has  accomplished  with 
regard  to  the  general  state  of  society.     It  is  by  no  means  denied 

*  Periodical  Accounts  ol'the  Baptist  iVIission,  No.  11.  p.  129.  No.  III.  pj'. 
191.  230.     No.  IV.  p.  291. 

t  Translated  from  the  3haDscrit,and  published  in  1773. 


Chapter  VI.]  ON  THE  STATE  OF  SOCIETY.  83 

that  the  natural  dispositions  of  heathens,  as  well  as  other  men,  are 
various.  The  scriptures  themselves  record  instances  of  their 
amiable  deportment  towards  their  fellow-creatures.*  Neither  i? 
it  denied  that  there  are  characters  in  christianized  nations,  and 
that  in  great  numbers,  whose  wickedness  cannot  be  exceeded,  nor 
equalled,  by  any  who  arc  de«titu(e  of  their  advantages.  There  is^ 
no  doubt  but  that  the  general  moral  character  of  heathens  is  far 
less  atrocious  than  that  of  Deists  who  reject  the  light  of  revelation, 
and  of  multitudes  of  nominal  Christians  who  abuse  it.  The  state 
of  both  these  descriptions  of  men,  with  respect  to  unenlightened 
pagans,  is  as  that  of  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida  with  respect  to  Sodom 
and  Gomorrha.  But  that  for  which  1  contend  is,  the  etTect  of 
Christianity  upon  the  general  state  of  society.  It  is  an  indisputable 
fact,  that  it  has  bani'-hed  gross  idolatry  from  every  nation  in  Eu- 
rope. It  is  granted,  that  where  whole  nations  were  concerned, 
this  effect  might  be  at  first  accomplished,  not  by  persuasion,  but 
by  force  of  arms,  in  this  manner  many  legislators  thought  they 
did  God  service.  But,  whatever  were  the  means  by  which  the 
worship  of  the  one  living  and  true  God  were  at  first  introduced,  it 
is  a  fact  that  the  principle  is  now  so  fully  established  in  the  mind.s 
and  consciences  of  men,  that  there  needs  no  force  to  prevent  the 
return  of  the  old  system  of  polytheism.  There  needs  no  greater 
proof  of  this  than  has  been  afforded  by  unbelievers  of  a  neighbor- 
ing nation.  Such  evidently  has  been  their  predilection  for  pagan 
manners,  that,  if  the  ligiU  that  is  gone  abroad  among  mankind  per- 
mitted it,  they  would  at  once  have  plunged  into  gross  idolatry,  as 
into  their  native  element.  But  this  is  rendered  morally  impossi- 
ble. They  must  be  Theists  or  Atheists;  Polytheists  they  can- 
not be. 

By  accounts,  which  from  time  to  time  have  been  received,  it 
appears  that  the  prevailing  party  in  France  have  not  only  labored 
to  eradicate  every  principle  of  Christianity,  but,  in  one  instance, 
actually  made  the  experiment  for  restoring  something  like  the  old 
idolatry.  A  respectable  magistrate  of  the  United  States,!  in  his 
Address  to  the  Grand  Jury  in   Luzerne  County,  has  stated  a  few 

'Gen.  xxiii.  tJudje  Rush. 


04  KFKECTS  OF   CHRISTIANITY  [Part  I. 

of  these  facts  to  the  public.  "Infidelity,"  says  he,  "  having  got 
possession  of  the  power  of  the  Stiite,  every  nerve  was  exerted  to 
efface  from  the  mind  all  ideas  of  religion  and  morality.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  a  future  state  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  so  essential  to  the  preservation  of  order  in  soci- 
ety, and  to  the  prevention  of  crimes,  was  publicly  ridiculed,  and 
the  people  taught  to  believe  that  death  was  an  everlasting  sleep." 

"  They  ordered  the  words  '  Temple  of  Reason'  to  be  inscribed 
on  the  churches,  in  contempt  of  the  doctrine  of  revelation.  Athe- 
istical and  licentious  Homilies  have  been  published  in  the  church- 
es, instead  of  the  old  service;  and  a  ludicrous  imitation  of  the 
Greek  mythology  exhibited,  under  the  title  of  the  '  Religion  of 
Reason.'  Nay,  they  have  gone  so  far  as  to  dress  up  a  common 
strumpet  with  the  most  fantastic  decorations,  whom  they  blasphe- 
mously styled,  '  The  Goddess  of  Reason,'  and  who  was  carried  to 
church  on  the  shoulders  of  sonae  Jacobins  selected  for  the  purpose, 
escorted  by  the  National  Guards  and  the  constituted  authorities. 
When  they  got  to  the  church,  the  strumpet  was  placed  on  the 
altar  erected  for  the  purpose,  and  harangued  the  people,  who,  in 
return,  professed  the  deepest  adoration  to  her,  and  sung  the  Car- 
magnole, and  other  songs,  by  way  of  worshipping  her.  This  hor- 
rid scene — almost  too  horrid  to  relate — was  concluded  by  burning 
the  prayer-book,  confessional,  and  every  thing  appropriated  to  the 
use  of  public  worship;  numbers,  in  the  mean  time,  danced  round 
the  flames,  with  every  appearance  of  frantic  and  infernal  mirth." 

These  things  sufficiently  express  the  inclinations  of  the  parties 
concerned,  and  what  kind  of  blessings  the  world  i^i  to  ex[»ect  from 
atheistical  philosophy.  But  all  attempts  of  this  kind  are  vain:  the 
minds  of  men  throughout  Europe,  if  1  ui;;y  for  once  use  a  cant 
term  of  their  own,  are  too  enlightened  to  stoop  to  the  practice  of 
such  fooleries.  We  have  a  gentlemen  in  our  oTvn  country,  who 
appears  to  be  a  sincere  devotee  to  the  pagan  worship,  and  who,  it 
seems,  would  wish  to  introduce  it;  but,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  all 
the  success  which  he  has  met  with,  is  to  have  obtained  from  the 
public  the  honorable  api)ellation  of^Ae  Gentile  Priest. 

Whatever  we  are,  and  whatever  we  may  be,  goss  idolatry,  1 
presume,   may  be  considered   as  banished   from   Europe;  and, 


Chapter  Vl.j  oN  THE  STATE  OF  SOCIETY.  85 

thanks  be  to  Cioil,  a  miinl»or  of  its  altemhiiit  abominatiour;,  with 
various  other  immoral  customs  of  the  heathen,  are,  in  a  good  meas- 
ure, banished  with  it.  We  have  no  human  sacrifices;  no  gladia- 
tory  combats  ;  no  public  indecencies  between  the  sexes;  no  law 
that  requires  prostitution;  no  plurality  or  community  of  wives; 
no  dissolvin;^  of  marriaces  on  trifling  occasions;  nor  any  le<ral  mur- 
dering of  children,  or  of  the  aged  and  infirm,  if  unnatural  crimes 
be  committed  among  us,  they  are  not  common  ;  much  less  are  they 
tolerated  by  the  laws,  or  coimtenanced  by  public  opinion.  On  the 
contrary,  the  odium  which  follows  such  practices  is  sufficient  to 
stamp  with  perpetual  infamy  the  first  character  in  the  land.  Rapes, 
incests  and  adulteries,  are  not  only  punishable  by  law,  but  odious 
in  the  estimation  of  the  public.  It  is  with  us,  at  least  in  a  consid- 
erable degree,  as  it  was  in  Judea,  where  he  that  was  guilty  ol" 
such  vice-,  vvas  considered  as  a  fool  in  Israel.  The  same,  in  less 
degrees,  may  be  said  of  fornication,  drunkenness,  lying,  theft, 
fraud,  and  cruelty;  no  one  can  live  in  the  known  practice  of  these 
vices,  and  retain  his  character.  It  cannot  be  pleaded  in  excuse 
with  us,  as  it  is  in  China,  I  lindostan,  and  Otaheitc,  that  sucii  things 

ARE  THE  CUSTOM  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

We  freely  acknowledge,  that  if  we  turn  our  eyes  upon  the  great 
evils  which  still  exist,  even  in  those  nations  where  Christianity  has 
had  the  greatest  influence,  we  find  abundant  reason  for  lamenta- 
tion: but,  while  we  lament  the  evil,  there  is  no  reason  that  we 
should  overlook  the  good.  Conifiaring  our  state  with  that  of  for- 
mer times,  we  cannot  but  with  thankfulness  acknowledge.  What 
haih  God  ivrought  ! 

1  can  conceive  of  but  one  question  tliat  can  have  any  tendency 
to  weaken  the  argument  arising  from  the  foregoing  facts:  viz.  Are 
they  the  effects  of  Christianity  ?  If  they  be  not,  and  can  be  fairly 
accounted  for  on  other  principles,  the  argument  falls  to  the  ground: 
but  if  they  be,  though  Shaftesbury  satirize,  Hume  doubt,  Voltaire 
laugh,  Gibbon  insinuate,  and  Paine  pour  forth  scurrility  like  a  tor- 
rent, yet  honest  men  will  say,  An  evil  tree  bringeth  not  forth  good 
fruit:  If  this  religion  zvere  not  of  God,  it  could  do  nothing. 

If  there  be  an  adequate  cause,  distinct  from  Christianity,  to 
which  these  effects  may  be  ascribed,   it  becomes  our  adversaries 


.^6  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  PartI.J 

to  state  it.  Meanwhile,  I  may  observe,  they  arc  not  ascribableto 
any  thing  besides  Christianity  that  has  borne  the  name  oC  religion. 
As  to  that  of  the  ancient  heathens,  it  had  no  manner  of  relation  to 
morality.  The  priests,  as  Dr.  Leland  has  proved  "  made  it  not 
their  business  to  leach  men  virtue."*  It  is  the  same  with  modern 
heathens:  their  religion  has  nothing  of  morality  pertaining  to  it. 
They  perform  a  round  of  superstitious  observances,  which  pro- 
duce no  good  effect  whatever  upon  their  lives.  What  they  were 
yesterday,  they  are  to-day;  no  man  repenteth  himself  of  his  wick- 
edness, saying,  What  have  I  done  !  Nor  is  it  materially  different  with 
Mahometans.  Their  religion,  though  it  includes  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  one  living  and  true  God,  yet,  rejecting  the  Messiah  as  the 
Son  of  God,  and  attaching  them  to  a  bloody  and  lascivious  impostor, 
produces  no  good  effect  upon  their  morals,  but  leaves  them  under 
the  dominion  of  barbarity  and  voluptuousness.  In  short,  there  is 
no  religion  but  that  of  Jesus  Christ  that  so  much  as  professes  to 
bless  men  by  turning  them  from  their  iniquities. 

Neither  can  these  effects  be  attributed  to  philosophy.  A  few 
great  minds  despised  the  idolatries  of  their  countrymen;  but  they 
did  not  reform  them:  and  no  wonder;  for  they  practised  what  they 
themselves  despised.  Nor  did  all  their  harangues  in  favor  of  vir- 
tue produce  any  substantial  effect,  either  on  themselves  or  others. 
The  heathen  nations  were  never  more  enlightened  as  to  philoso- 
phy, than  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's  appearance;  yet  as  to  mor- 
ality, they  never  were  more  depraved. 

It  is  Christianity  thpn,.and  nothing  else,  which  has  destroyed 
the  odious  idolatry  of  many  nations,  and  greatly  contracted  its  at- 
tendant immoralities  It  was  in  this  way  that  the  gospel  operated 
in  the  primitive  ages,  wherever  it  was  received;  and  it  is  in  the 
same  way  that  it  continues  to  operate  to  the  present  time.  Real 
Christians  must  needs  be  averse  to  these  things ;  and  they  are  the 
only  men  living  who  cordially  set  themselves  against  them. 

This  truth  will  receive  additional  evidence  from  an  observation 
of  the  different  degrees  of  morality  produced  in  different  places, 
according  to  the  degree  of  purity  with  which  the  Christian  religion 

*  Advantage  and  Necessity  of  Revelatioii,  Vol.  II.  p.  38. 


LiiAfTKR  Vl.j  0.\  THE  STATK  OK  SOCIETY.  87 

has  been  taught,  and  liberty  given  it  to  ujieiate.  In  several  na- 
tions of  Europe,  popery  has  long  been  established,  and  supported 
by  sanguinary  laws.  By  these  mean?  the  Bible  has  been  kept 
from  the  common  people.  Christian  doctrine  and  worship  corrupt- 
ed, and  the  consciences  of  men  subdued  to  a  usurper  of  Christ's 
authority.  Christianity  is  there  in  prison;  and  anti-christianism 
exalted  in  its  place.  In  other  nations  this  yoke  is  broken.  Every 
true  Christian  has  a  Bible  in  his  family,  and  measures  his  religion 
by  it.  The  rights  of  conscience  also  being  respected,  men  are 
allowed,  in  religious  matters,  to  judge  and  act  for  themselves;  and 
Christian  churches  arc  formed  according  to  the  primitive  model. 
Christianity  is  here  at  liberty:  hero,  therefore,  it  may  be  expected 
to  produce  its  greatest  effects.  Whether  this  does  not  correspond 
with  fact,  let  those  who  are  accustomed  to  observe  men  and  things 
with  an  impartial  eye  determine. 

In  Italy,  France,  and  various  other  countries,  where  the  Chris- 
tian relij^ion  has  been  so  far  corrupted  as  to  lose  nearly  all  its  in- 
fluence, illii  it  connexions  may  be  formed,  adulterous  intrigues 
pursued,  and  even  crimes  against  nature  committed,  with  but 
little  dishonor.  Kousseau  could  here  send  his  illegitimate  offspring 
to  the  Foundling  Hospital,  and  lay  his  accounts  with  being  ap- 
plauded for  it,  as  being  the  custom  of  the  country.  It  is  not  so  in 
Britain,  and  various  other  nations,  where  the  gospel  has  had  a 
freer  course;  for  though  the  same  dispositions  are  discovered  in 
treat  numbers  of  persons,  yet  the  fear  of  the  public  frown  holds 
them  in  awe.  If  we  except  a  few  abandoned  characters,  who 
have  nearly  lost  all  sense  of  shame,  and  who,  by  means  either  of 
their  titles  or  fortunes  on  the  one  hand,  or  their  well-known  base- 
ness on  the  other,  have  almost  bid  defiance  to  the  opinion  of  man- 
kind, this  observation  will  hold  good;  I  believe,  as  to  the  bulk  of 
tlie  inhabitants  of  protestant  countries. 

And  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  in  those  circles  or  connexions 
where  Christianity  has  had  the  greatest  influence,  a  sobriety  ot 
character  is  carried  to  a  much  higher  degree  than  in  any  other. 
Where  there  is  one  divorce  from  among  protestant  dissenters,  and 
nther  serious  professors  of  Christianity,  there  are,  I  believe,  a 
btmdred  from  among  those   whose   practice  it  is  to  neglect  the 


88  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  [Paht  I. 

worship  of  God,  and  to  frequent  the  amusements  of  the  theatre. 
And  in  proportion  to  the  singularity  of  such  cases,  such  is  the  sur- 
prise, indignation,  and  disgrace,  which  accompany  them.  Similar 
observations  might  be  made  on  pubhc  executions  for  robbery,  for- 
gery, tumults,  assassinations,  murders,  &.c.  It  is  not  among  the 
circles  professing  a  serious  regard  to  Christianity,  but  among  its 
adversaries,  that  these  practices  ordinarily  prevail. 

Some  have  been  inclined  to  attribute  various  differences  in  these 
things  to  a  difference  in  national  character :  but  national  character, 
as  it  respects  n)orality ,  is  formed  very  much  from  the  state  of  society 
in  different  nations.  A  number  of  painful  observations  would  arise 
from  a  view  of  the  conduct  and  character  of  Englishmen  on  foreign 
shores.  To  say  nothing  of  the  rapacities  committed  in  the  East, whith- 
er is  our  boasted  humanity  fled  when  we  land  upon  the  coast  of  Guin- 
ea? The  brutality  with  which  millions  of  our  fellow-creatures  have 
been  torn  from  their  connexions,  bound  in  irons,  thrown  into  a 
floating  dungeon,  sold  in  the  public  markets,  beaten,  maimed,  and 
many  of  them  murdered,  for  trivial  offences,  and  all  this  without  any 
effectual  restraint  from  the  laws,  must  load  our  national  character 
with  everlasting  infamy.  These  same  persons,  however,  who  can 
be  guilty  of  these  crimes  at  a  distance,  are  as  apparently  humane  as 
other  people  when  they  re-enter  their  native  country.  And 
wherefore  ?  Because  in  their  native  country  the  state  of  society 
is  such  as  will  not  admit  of  a  contrary  behavior.  A  man  who  should 
violate  the  principles  of  justice  and  humanity  here,  would  not  only 
be  exposed  to  the  censure  of  the  laws,  but,  supposing  he  could 
evade  this,  his  character  would  be  lost.  The  state  of  society  in 
Guinea  imposes  no  such  restraints;  in  that  situation,  therefore, 
wicked  men  will  indulge  in  wickedness.  Nor  is  it  much  otherwise 
in  our  West-India  Islands.  So  little  is  there  of  Christianity  in  those 
quarters,  that  it  has  hitherto  had  scarcely  any  influence  in  the 
framing  of  their  laws,  or  the  forming  of  the  public  opinion.  There 
are,  doubtless,  just  and  humane  individuals  in  those  islands;  but 
the  far  greater  part  of  them,  it  is  to  be  feared,  are  devotees  to 
avarice;  to  which,  as  to  a  Moloch,  one  or  other  of  them  are  con- 
tinually offering  up  human  victims. 


Ckaptea  M]         on  the  state  OF  SOCIETY.  39 

Vicious  practices  arc  commonly  more  prevalent  in  large  and 
populous  cities  than  in  other  places.  Hither  the  worst  characters 
commonly  resort,  as  noxious  animals  to  a  covert  from  their  pur- 
suers. In  places  but  thinly  inhabited,  the  conduct  of  individuals 
is  conspicuous  to  the  community:  but  here  they  can  assemble 
with  others  of  their  own  description,  and  strengthen  each  other's 
bands  in  evil,  without  much  fear  of  being  detected.  Christianity, 
therefore,  may  be  supposed  to  have  less  effect  in  the  way  of  re- 
straining immoral  characters  in  the  city,  than  in  the  country.  Yet 
even  here  it  is  sensibly  felt.  The  metropolis  of  our  own  nation, 
though  it  abounds  with  almost  every  speciesof  vice, yetwhat  reflect- 
ing citizen  will  deny  that  it  would  be  much  worse  but  for  the  in- 
fluence of  the  gospel  ?  As  it  is,  there  are  numbers,  of  different 
religious  denominations,  who  constantly  attend  to  public  and  fam- 
ily worship;  who  are  as  honorable  in  their  dealings  as  they  are 
amiable  in  domestic  life;  and  as  liberal  in  their  benefactions  as 
they  are  assiduous  to  find  out  deserving  cases.  The  influence 
which  this  body  of  men  have  upon  the  citizens  at  large,  in  re- 
straining vice,  promoting  schemes  of  benevolence,  and  preserving 
peace  and  good  order  in  society,  is  beyond  calculation.  But  for 
their  examples  And  iitirpmitted  exertions,  London  would  be  a 
Sodom  in  its  guilt,  and  might  be  expected  to  resemble  it  in  its  pun- 
ishment. 

In  country  towns  and  villases  it  i«  easy  to  perceive  the  influ- 
ence which  a  number  ol  serious  Christians  will  have  upon  the 
manners  of  the  people  at  large.  A  few  families  in  which  the  Bible 
IS  daily  read,  the  worship  of  God  performed,  and  a  Christian  con- 
versation exemplified,  will  have  a  powerful  effect.  Whether 
characters  of  an  opposite  description  regard  their  conduct,  or  not, 
their  consciences  favor  it.  Hence  it  is  that  one  upright  man,  in  a 
question  of  riu;ht  and  wrong,  will  often  put  to  silence  a  company 
of  the  advocates  of  unrighteousness;  and  that  three  or  four  Chris- 
tian families  have  been  known  to  give  a  turn  to  the  mantjers  of  a 
whole  neighborhood. 

In  fine,  let  it  be  closely  considered,  whether  a  great  part  of  that 
sobriety  which  is  to  be  foimd  among  Deists  themselves  (as  there  are, 
loubtless,  sobrr  charactrr^  among  Deisls.  and  even  among  Atheists) 

Vol..  in  1? 


90  EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  I 

be  not  owing  to  Chrisitanity.  It  has  often  been  remarked,  and 
justly  too,  that  much  of  the  knowledge  which  our  adversaries 
possess,  is  derived  from  this  source.  To  say  nothing  of  the  best 
ideas  of  the  old  philosophers  on  moral  subjects  being  derived  from 
revelation,  of  which  there  is  considerable  evidence,  it  is  manifest 
that  so  far  as  the  moderns  exceed  them,  it  is  principally,  if  not  en- 
tirely owing  to  this  medium  of  instruction.  The  Scriptures  hav- 
ing diffused  the  light,  they  have  insensibly  imbibed  it  ;  and  finding 
it  to  accord  with  reason,  they  flatter  themselves  that  their  reason 
has  discovered  it.  "  After  grazing,"  as  one  expresses  it,  "in  the 
pastures  of  revelation,  they  boast  of  having  grown  fat  by  nature." 
And  it  is  the  same  with  regard  to  their  sobriety.  So  long  as  they 
reside  among  people  whose  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  are  formed 
by  the  morality  of  the  gospel,  they  must,  unless  they  wish  to  be  stig- 
matized as  profligates,  behave  with  some  degree  of  decorum. 
Where  the  conduct  is  uniform  and  consistent,  charity,  I  allow,  and 
even  justice,  will  lead  us  to  put  the  best  construction  upon  the 
motive:  but  when  we  see  men  uneasy  under  rersraints,  and  con- 
tinually writing  in  favour  of  vices  which  they  dare  not  openly 
practice,  we  are  justified  in  imputing  their  sobriety,  not  to  princi- 
ple, but  to  the  circumstances  attending  their  situation.  If  some  of 
those  gentlemen  who  have  deserted  the  Christian  ministry,  and 
commenced  professed  Infidels,  had  acted  years  ago  as  licentiously 
as  they  have  done  of  late,  they  must  have  quitted  their  situation 
sooner,  and  were  they  now  to  leave  their  country  and  connexions, 
and  enter  into  such  a  state  of  society,  as  would  comport  with 
their  present  wishes,  their  conduct  would  be  more  licentious  than 
it  is. 

On  these  principles  that  great  and  excellent  man,  Washington, 
in  his  fiirewel  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  ac 
knowledges  the  necessity  of  religion  to  the  well-being  of  a  nation. 
"  Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosper- 
ity," he  says,  "  religion  and  morality  are  indispensable  supports. 
In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriotism,  who  should 
labour  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of  human  happiness,  these 
firmest  props  of  men  and  citizens.  The  mere  politician,  equally 
with  the  pious  man,  ought  to  respect  and  to  cherish  tbem.     A  vol- 


i.HAPTER  M.  ON  THK  STATE  OF  SOCIETY.  91 

ume  could  not  trace  all  their  connexions  with  private  and  public 
felicity.  Let  it  be  simply  asked,  Where  is  the  security  for  prop- 
erty, for  reputation,  for  life,  if  the  sense  of  religious  obligation 
desert  the  oaths,  which  are  the  instruments  of  investigation  in 
the  courts  of  justice  ]  And  let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  suppo- 
sition, that  morality  can  be  maintained  without  religion. — What- 
ever may  be  conceded  to  the  influence  of  refined  education  on 
minds  of  a  peculiar  structure,  reason  and  experience  both  for- 
bid us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of 
religious  principle.'' 

Upon  the  whole,  the  evidence  of  this  chapter,  proves  that  Chris- 
tianity is  not  only  living  principle  of  virtue  in  good  men,  but  affords 
this  farther  blessing  to  society,  that  it  restrains  the  vices  of  the  bad. 
It  is  a  tree  of  life  whose  fruit  is  immortality,  and  whose  very  leaves 
are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


rHRISriANirV  IS  A  SOt'RCE  OF  HAPVINESR  TO  INPlVinbALS  ANU 
SOCIETY  :  BUT  DEISM  LEAVES  THE  ONE  AND  THE  OTHER  WITH- 
OUT   HOVE. 


Though  the  happiness  of  creatures  be  not  admitted  to  be  the 
final  end  of  God's  moral  government,  yet  it  is  freely  allowed  to 
occupy  an  important  place  in  the  system.  God  is  good  ;  and  his 
goodness  appears  in  having  so  blended  the  honour  of  his  name  with 
the  felicity  of  his  creatures,  that  in  seeking  the  one  they  should 
find  the  other.  In  so  important  a  light  do  we  consider  human 
happiness,  as  to  be  willing  to  allow  that  to  be  the  trae  religion 
which  is  most  adapted  to  promote  it. 

To  form  an  accurate  judgment  on  this  subject,  it  is  necessary  to 
ascertain  wherein  happiness  consists.  We  ought  neither  to  ex- 
pect nor  desire,  in  the  present  life,  such  a  state  of  mind  as  wholly 
excludes  painful  sensations.  Had  we  less  of  the  exercises  of  godly 
sorrow,  our  sacred  pleasures  would  be  fewer  than  they  are  ;  or 
were  we  unacquainted  with  the  afflictions  common  to  men,  we  should 
be  less  able  to  sympathize  with  them  ;  which  would  be  injurious, 
not  only  to  society,  but  to  ourselves,  as  it  would  deprive  us  of  one 
of  the  richest  sources  of  enjoyment. 

Mr.  Hume,  in  one  of  his  Essays,  very  properly  called  The  Sceptic, 
seems  to  think  that  happiness  lies  in  having  one's  inclinations  grati- 
fied; and,  as  different  men  have  different  inclinations  and  even  the 
sume  men  at  different  times,  that  may  be  happiness  in  one  case 
which  is  misery  n  another.  This  sceptical  writer,  however, 
would  hardly  deny,  that  in  happiness,  as  in  other  things,  there  is  a 
false  and  a  true,  an  imaginary  and  a  real ;  or  that  a  studied  indul- 
gence of  the  apetites  and  passions,  though  it  should  promote  the  one 


94  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  I. 

would  destroy  the  other.  The  Hght  of  nr.ture,  as  acknowledged 
even  by  deists,  teaches  that  self-denial,  in  many  cases,  is  necessary 
to  self  preservation  ;  and  that  to  act  a  contrary  part,  would  be  to 
ruin  our  peace  and  destroy  our  health.*  I  presame  it  will  be 
granted,  that  no  definition  of  happiness  can  be  complete,  which  in- 
cludes not  peace  of  mind,  which  admits  not  of  perpetuity,  or 
which  answers  not  the  necessities  and  miseries  of  human  life. 

But  if  nothing  deserves  the  name  o{  happiness  which  does  not 
include  peace  of  mind,  n\\  criminal  pleasure  is  at  once  excluded. 
Could  a  life  of  unchastity,  intrigue,  dishonour,  and  disappointed 
pride,  like  that  of  Rousseau,  be  a  happy  life  ?  No  ;  amidst  the 
brilliancy  of  his  talents,  remorse,  shame,  conscious  meanness,  and 
the  dread  of  an  hearafter,  must  corrode  his  heart,  and  render  him 
a  stranger  to  peace.  Contrast  with  the  life  of  this  man,  that  of 
Howard,  pious,  temperate,  just,  and  benevolent,  he  lived  for  the 
good  of  mankind.  His  happiness  consisted  in  serving  his  genera- 
tion by  (he  rvill  of  God.  If  all  men  were  like  Rousseau,  the  world 
would  be  abundantly  more  miserable  than  it  is  :  if  all  were  like 
Howard,  it  would  be  abundantly  more  happy.  Rousseau,  gov- 
erned by  the  love  of  fame,  is  fretful  and  peevish,  and  never  satis- 
fied with  the  treatment  he  receives :  Howard,  governed  by  the 
love  of  mercy,  shrinks  from  applause,  with  this  modest  and  just 
reflection,  ''  Alas,  our  best  performances  have  such  a  mixture  of 
sin  and  folly,  that  praise  is  vanity  and  presumption  and  pain,  to  a 
thinking  mind."  Rousseau,  after  a  life  of  debauchery  and  shame, 
confesses  it  to  the  world,  and  makes  a  merit  of  his  confession,  and 
even  presumptuously  supposes,  that  it  will  avail  him  before  the 
.Judge  of  all :  Howard,  after  a  life  of  singular  devotedness  to  God, 
and  benevolence  to  men,  accounted  himself  an  unprofitable  ser- 
vant, leaving  this  for  his  motto,  his  last  testimony,  Christ  is  my 
HOPE.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  which  of  the  two  was  the  happi- 
est man  ? 

Further:  If  nothing  amounts  to  real  happiness  which  admits 
not  of  perpetuity,  all  natural  pleasure,  when  weighed  against  the 
hopes  and  joys  of  the  gospel,  will  be  found  wanting.     It  is  an 

*  Volney's  Law  of  Nature,  p.  12. 


Chapter  VII.]  A  SOURCF.  OF  HAPPINESS.  96 

expressive  chnracteristic  of  the  gooil  tliiiie;s  of  this  life,  thut  they 
all  perish  with  the  using.  The  charms  of  youth  and  beiuty  quickly 
fade.  The  power  of  relishino:  mitural  enjoyments  is  soon  gone. 
The  pleasures  of  active  life,  of  building,  planting,  forming  schemes, 
md  achieving  enterprise.i,  soon  follow.  In  old  age  none  of  them 
will  flourish  ;  and  in  death  they  are  exterminated.  The  mighty 
man,  and  the  man  of  tear,  the  judge,  and  the  prophet,  and  the  pru- 
dent, and  the  ancient,  the  captain  of  fifty,  and  the  honourable  wan, 
and  the  counsellor,  and  the  cttnning  artificer,  and  the  eloquent  ora- 
tor, all  tiesccnd,  in  one  undisliii'j;uished  mass,  into  oblivion.  And, 
as  this  is  a  truth  which  no  man  can  dispnto,  those  who  have  no 
prospects  of  a  higher  nature  must  often  feel  themselves  unhappy. 
Contrast  with  this  the  joys  of  the  gospel.  These,  instead  of  being 
diminished  by  time,  are  often  increased.  To  them  the  soil  of  age 
is  friendly.  While  nature  has  been  fading,  and  perishing  by  slow 
degrees,  how  ot'ten  have  we  seen  fiilh,  hope,  love,  patience,  and 
resignation  to  God,  in  full  bloom.  Who  but  Christians  can  con- 
template the  loss  of  all  present  enjoyments  with  satisfaction  ?  Who 
else  can  view  death,  judgment,  and  eternily,  with  desire  ?  1 
appeal  to  the  iiearts  of  libertines  and  unbelievers,  whether  they 
have  not  many  misgivings  and  revoltings  within  them  ;  and  whether, 
in  the  hour  of  solitary  reflection,  they  have  not  si2;lie(l  the  wish  of 
f^alaam.  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end 
be  like  his. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  a  late  nobleman,  of  loose 
principles,  well  known  in  the  gay  world,  and  published  as  authen- 
tic bv  a  respectable  prelate,  deceased,  will  show  the  dreadful 
vacancy  and  wretchedness  of  a  mind  left  to  itself  in  the  decline  of 
life,  and  unsupported  by  Christian  principle. — "  I  have  seen  the 
silly  round  of  business  and  pleasure,  and  have  done  with  it  all.  I 
have  enjoyed  all  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  -.wu]  consequently 
know  their  futility,  and  do  not  regret  their  loss.  I  appraise  them 
at  their  real  value,  which  in  truth  is  very  low  :  whereas  those 
who  have  not  experienced  always  overrate  them.  They  only  sep 
their  gay  outside,  and  arc  dazzled  with  their  glaie  ;  but  I  have 
been  behind  the  scenes.  I  have  seen  all  the  coarse  pullies  and 
dirtv   ropes   which  exhibit   and  move   the  gaudy    machine:  and 


go  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  L 

I  have  seen  and  smelt  the  tallow  candles  which  illumine  the 
whole  decoration,  to  the  astonishment  and  admiration  of  the  igno- 
rant audience.  When  I  reflect  on  what  i  have  seen,  what  I  have 
heard,  and  what  I  have  done,  I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  all  that 
frivolous  hurry  of  bustle  and  pleasure  of  the  world  had  any  real- 
ity :  but  I  look  on  all  that  is  past  as  one  of  those  romantic  dreams 
which  opium  commonly  occasions  ;  and  I  do  by  no  means  wish  to 
repeat  the  nauseous  dose  for  the  sake  of  the  fugitive  dream.  Shall 
I  tell  you  that  I  bear  this  melancholy  situation  with  that  meritoriT 
ous  constancy  and  resignation  that  most  men  boast  ?  No  Sir,  I 
really  cannot  help  it.  I  bear  it  because  I  must  bear  it,  whether  I 
will  or  no.  I  think  of  nothing  but  killing  time  the  best  way  I  can, 
now  that  time  has  become  my  enemy.  It  is  my  resolution  to  sleep 
in  the  carriage  during  the  remainder  of  the  journey." 

"You  see,"  reflects  the  worthy  prelate,  "  in  how  poor,  abject, 
and  unpitied  a  condition,  at  a  time  when  he  most  wanted  help 
and  comfortj  the  world  left  him,  and  he  left  the  world.  Compare 
these  words  with  those  of  another  person,  who  took  his  leave  in 
a  very  different  manner  :  lam  nozo  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the 
time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I 
have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  right- 
eous Judge  shall  give  me  at  that  day  ;  and  not  to  me  only,  hut  unt£> 
all  them  also  who  love  his  appearing.'' 

It  is  observable,  that  even  Rousseau  himself,  though  the  lan- 
guage certainly  did  not  become  his  lips,  affected,  in  advanced  life, 
to  derive  consolation  from  Christian  principles.  In  a  letter  to 
V^oltaire  he  says,  "  I  cannot  help  remarking,  Sir,  a  very  singular 
contrast  between  you  and  me.  Sated  with  glory,  and  undeceived 
with  the  inanity  of  worldly  grandeur,  you  live  at  freedom,  in  the 
midst  of  plenty,  certain  of  immortality  ;  you  peaceably  philoso- 
phize on  the  nature  of  the  soul  ;  and  if  the  body,  or  the  heart  are 
indisposed,  you  have  Tronchin  for  your  physician  and  friend. 
Yet  with  all  this  you  find  nothing  but  evil  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
I,  on  the  other  hand,  obscure,  indigent,  tormented  with  an  incura- 
ble disorder,  meditate  with  pleasure  in  my  solitude,  and  find  every 
thing  to  be  good.     Whence  arise  these  apparent  contradictions  ^ 


C'HArrEii  Ml. I  A  SOUIICL  OF  HAPPINESS. 


97 


Vou  have  vomsclf  expIaiiKHl  them.  Vou  live  in  a  stale  ofeojov- 
nient,  1  in  a  state  of  hope  ;  ami  hope  i^ives  charms  to  every 
thin^.-» 

Finally:  If  nothing  deserves  the  name  of  happines.s  which  jneets 
nut  the  necessities,  nor  relieves  the  tnisenes  of  human  life,  Christiani- 
ty alone  can  claim  it.  Every  one  who  looks  into  his  own  heart, 
and  makes  proper  observations  on  the  dispositions  of  others,  will 
jterceive  that  man  is  possessed  of  a  desire  after  something  which  is 
not  to  be  found  under  the  sun — after  a  good  wmcu  has  no  limits. 
We  n)ay  imagine  ourideas  are  moderate,  and  set  boundaries  beyond 
which  we  may  flatter  ourselves  we  should  never  wish  to  pass;  but 
this  is  self-deception.  He  that  sets  his  heart  on  an  estate,  if  he 
gain  it  will  wish  for  something  more.  It  would  be  the  same  if  it 
were  a  kingdom  ;  or  even  if  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  were 
united  in  one.  Nor  is  this  desire  to  be  attributed  merely  to  human 
depravity;  for  it  is  the  same  with  regard  to  knowledge:  the  mind 
is  never  satibtied  vvith  its  present  acquisitions,  it  is  depravity  that 
directs  us  to  seek  satisfaction  in  something  short  of  God;  but  it  ia 
owing  to  the  nature  of  the  soul  that  we  are  never  able  to  find  it.  It 
is  not  possible  that  a  being  created  immortal,  and  with  a  mind  ca- 
pable of  continual  enlargement,  should  obtain  satisfaction  in  a  lim- 
ited good.  Men  may  spend  their  time  and  strength,  and  even  sa- 
cri6ce  their  souls  in  striving  to  grasp  it,  but  it  will  elude  their  pur- 
suit. It  is  only  from  an  untreated  source  that  the  mind  can  drink 
its  fill.  Here  it  is  that  the  gospel  meets  our  necessities.  Its  Ian 
guagc  is,  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  uaters,  and  he 
that  hath  no  mo7iey;  come  ye,  buy  and  eat;  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and 
milk  ■without  money  and  'dithout price.  Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money 
for  that  which  is  not  bread,  and  your  labor  for  that  which  satisfieth 
not  ?  Hearken  diligently  unto  me,  and  cat  ye  that  which  is  good,  and 
let  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness.  Incliue  your  ear ,  and  come 
unto  me;  hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live. — In  the  last  day,  that  great 
day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me,  and  drink. — He  that  cometh  to  me  shall  never  hun- 
ger; and  he  that  Lelieveth  on  me  shall  never  thirst.      How  this  lan- 

*   Worka,  Vol.  IX.  p.  336 
Vol.  III.  13 


98  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  I. 

guage  has  been  verified,  all  who  have  made  the  trial  can  testify. 
To  them,  as  to  the  only  competent  witnesses,  I  appeal. 

It  is  not  merely  the  nature  of  the  soul  however,  but  its  depravity, 
from  whence  our  necessities  arise.  We  are  sinners.  Every  man  who 
believes  there  is  a  God,  and  a  future  state,  or  even  only  admits  the 
possibility  of  them,  feels  the  want  of  mercy.  The  first  inquiries  of 
a  mind  awakened  to  reflection  will  be,  how  he  may  escape  the 
wrath  to  come;  how  he  shall  get  over  his  everlasting  ruin.  A  hea- 
then, previously  to  any  Christian  instruction,  exclaimed,  in  the  mo- 
ment of  alarm,  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?*  And  several  Ma- 
hometans, being  lately  warned  by  a  Christian  minister  of  their  sin- 
ful state,  came  the  next  morning  to  him  with  this  very  serious  ques- 
tion, Keman  par  hoibo? — "  How  shall  we  get  over?"!  To  answer 
these  inquiries  is  beyond  the  power  of  any  principles  but  those  of 
the  gospel.  Philosophy  may  conjecture,  superstition  may  deceive, 
and  even  a  false  system  of  Christianity  may  be  aiding  and  abet- 
ting; each  may  labor  to  lull  the  conscience  to  sleep,  but  none  of 
them  can  yield  it  satisfaction.  It  is  only  by  believing  in  Jesus 
Christ,  the  great  sacrifice  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world, 
that  the  sinner  obtains  a  relief  which  will  bear  reflection;  a  relief 
which,  at  the  same  time,  gives  peace  to  the  mind  and  purity  to  the 
heart.  For  the  truth  of  this  also,  I  appeal  to  all  who  have  made  the 
trial. 

Where,  but  in  the  gospel,  will  you  find  relief  under  the  innumer- 
able ills  oi. the  present  state?  This  is  the  well-known  refuge  of 
Christians.  Are  they  poor,  afflicted,  persecuted,  or  reproached  ? 
They  are  led  to  consider  Him  who  endured  the  contradiction  of  sin- 
ners, who  lived  a  life  of  poverty  and  ignominy,  who  endured  per- 
secution and  reproach,  and  death  itself,  for  them;  and  to  realize  a 
blessed  immortality  in  prospect.  By  a  view  of  such  things  their 
hearts  are  cheered,  and  their  afflictions  become  tolerable.  Look- 
ing to  Jesus,  who  for  the  joy  set  before  him,  endured  the  cross,  de- 
spising the  shame,  and  is  now  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
throne  of  God,  they  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  befijre 

*  Acts  xvi.  30. 

t  Periodical  Accounts  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  No.  IV.  p.  326, 


Chapter  Vll.]  A  SOURCE  OF  HAPPINESS.  99 

tLem. — But  what  is  the  comfort  of  unbelievers  ?  Life  being  short, 
and  having  no  ground  to  hope  for  any  thing  beyond  it,  if  they  be 
crossed  here  they  become  inconsolable.  Hence,  it  is  not  uncom- 
mon for  persons  of  this  description,  after  the  example  of  the  philos- 
ophers and  statesmen  of  Greece  and  Rome,  when  they  find  them- 
selves depressed  by  adversity,  and  have  no  prospect  of  recovering 
their  t'ortunes,  to  put  a  period  to  their  lives!  Unhappy  men!  Is 
this  the  felicity  to  which  ye  would  introduce  us  ?  Is  it  in  guilt, 
shame,  remorse,  and  desperation  that  ye  descry  such  charms?  Ad- 
mitting that  our  hope  of  immortality  is  visionary,  where  is  the  in- 
jury ?  If  it  be  a  dream,  is  it  not  a  pleasant  one?  To  say  the  least, 
it  beguiles  many  a  melancholy  hour,  and  can  do  no  mischief;  but 
if  it  be  a  reality,  what  will  become  of  you? 

I  may  be  told,  that  if  many  put  a  period  to  their  lives  through 
unbelief,  there  is  an  equal  number  who  fall  sacrifices  to  religious 
melancholy.  But  to  render  this  objection  of  force,  it  should  be 
proved  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  cause  of  this  melan- 
choly. Reason  may  convince  us  of  the  being  of  a  God,  and  con- 
science bear  witness  that  we  are  exposed  to  his  displeasure.  Now, 
if  in  this  state  of  mind  the  heart  refuse  to  acquiesce  in  the  gospel 
way  of  salvation,  we  shall  of  course  either  rest  in  some  delusive 
hope  or  sink  into  despair.  But  here,  it  is  not  religion,  but  the  want 
of  it,  that  produces  the  evil ;  it  is  unbelief,  and  not  faith  that  sinks 
the  sinner  into  despondency.  Christianity  disowns  such  charac- 
ters. It  records  some  few  examples,  such  as  Saul,  Ahithophel,  and 
Judas  :  but  thoy  are  all  branded  as  apostates  from  God  and  true  re- 
ligion. On  the  contrary,  the  writings  of  unbelievers,  both  ancient 
and  modern,  are  known  to  plead  for  suicide,  as  an  expedient  in  ex- 
extremity.  Rosseau,  Hume,  and  others,  have  written  in  defence  of 
it.  The  principles  of  such  men  both  produce  and  require  it.  It  is 
the  natural  offspring  of  unbelief,  and  the  last  resort  of  disappointed 
pride. 

Whether  Christianity,  or  the  want  of  it  be  best  adapted  to  re- 
lieve the  heart  under  its  various  pressures,  let  those  testify  who 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  afflicted  poor.  On  this  sub- 
ject the  writer  of  these  sheets  can  speak  from  his  own  knowledge. 
In   (hi<!  situation   characters   of  very    opposite    descriptions   are 


♦.>  a  \}  .1  \ ' 


]00  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  I. 

found.  Some  are  serious  and  sincere  Christians  ;  others,  even 
among  those  who  have  attended  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  ap- 
pear neither  to  understand  nor  to  feel  it.  The  tale  of  woe  is  told 
perhaps  by  both  :  but  the  one  is  unaccompanied  with  that  discon- 
tent, that  wretchedness  of  mind,  and  that  inclination  to  despair, 
which  is  manifest  in  the  other.  Often  have  I  seen  the  cheerful 
smile  of  contentment  under  circumstances  the  most  abject  and 
afflictive.  Amidst  tears  of  sorrow,  which  a  full  heart  has  ren- 
dered it  impossible  to  suppress,  a  mixture  of  hope  and  joy  has 
glistened.  The  cup  which  my  Father  has  given  me  to  drink,  shall 
I  not  drink  it  ?  Such  have  been  their  feelings,  and  such  their  ex- 
pressions ;  and  where  this  has  been  the  case,  death  has  generally 
been  embraced  as  the  messenger  of  peace.  Here,  I  have  said, 
participating  of  their  sensations, — here  is  the  patience  and  the  faith 
of  the  saints.  Here  are  they  that  keep  the  commandments  of  God 
and  the  faith  of  Jesus. — This  is  the  victory  that  overcumeth  the  world 
even  our  faith. — Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the  world,  but  he  that 
believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God? 

From  individual  happiness,  let  us  proceed  to  examine  that  of 
society.  Let  us  inquire,  whether  there  be  any  well-grounded 
hope  of  the  future  melioration  of  the  state  of  mankind,  besides 
that  which  is  afforded  by  the  gospel.  Great  expectations  have 
been  raised  of  an  end  being  put  to  wars,  and  of  universal  good- 
will pervading  the  earth,  in  consequence  of  philosophical  illumin- 
ation, and  the  prevalence  of  certain  modes  of  civil  government. 
But  these  speculations  proceed  upon  false  data.  They  suppose 
that  the  cause  of  these  evils  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  ignorance, 
rather  than  in  the  depravity  of  men  :  or  if  depravity  be  allowed 
to  have  any  influence,  it  is  confined  to  the  precincts  of  a  court. 
Without  taking  upon  me  to  decide  which  is  the  best  mode  of  civil 
government ;  or  what  mode  is  most  adapted  to  promote  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  mankind,  it  is  sufficient  in  Ibis  case,  to  show  that 
wars  generally  originate,  as  the  apostle  James  says,  ii:  the  lusts, 
or  corrupt  passions  of  mankind.  If  this  be  proved,  it  will  follow, 
that,  however  some  forms  of  government  may  be  more  friendly 
to  peace  and  happines  than  others,  yet  no  radical  cure  can  be  ef- 
fected  till  the  disposition  of  men   are  changed.     Let  power  be 


ruAPTERVll.l  A  SOURCE  OF  IIMTINF.S?.  JOJ 

j»laced  where  il  in:iy,  with  ono  or  with  iiuii»\ ,  still  it  must  be  in  tliH 
liands  of  men.  If  all  governments  were  so  friimed  ;i^  that  every 
national  act  should  be  expressive  of  the  real  will  of  the  people. 
still,  if  the  preponderating  part  of  them  be  i^ovirned  by  pridi- 
and  self-love  rather  than  equity,  we  are  not  much  the  nearer. 
Governors  taken  from  the  common  mas«  of  Society,  mu>t  iieetl- 
resemble  it.  If  there  be  any  dillerence  at  the  time  of  their  fir.si 
elevation  to  office,  owing,  as  may  be  supposed,  to  the  preference 
which  all  men  give  to  an  upright  character  lor  the  management  ol 
their  concerns,  yet  this  advantage  will  be  balanced,  if  not  over- 
balanced by  the  subsequent  temptations  to  injustice  which  are  al- 
forded    by  situations  of  wealth  and  power. 

What  is  the  source  of  contentions  in  conuuon  life  ?  Observe 
the  discords  in  neighbourhoods  and  families  ;  which,  notwithstand- 
ingallthe  restraints  of  relationship,  interest,  honour,  law,  and  rea- 
son, are  a  fire  that  never  ceases  to  burn  ;  and  which  were  the} 
no  more  controlled  by  the  laws  than  independent  nations  are  by 
each  other,  would  in  thousands  of  instances  break  forth  into  assas- 
sinations and  murders.  From  whence  spring  these  wars  ?  Are 
they  the  resiilts  of  ignorance  ?  If  so,  they  wouhl  chietly  be  con- 
fined to  the  rude,  or  uninformed  part  of  the  community.  But  is 
it  so  ?  There  may,  it  is  true,  be  more  pretences  to  peace  and  good 
will,  and  fewer  bursts  of  open  resentment  in  the  higher,  than  in 
the  lower  order  of  people  :  but  their  dispositions  are  much  the 
same.  The  laws  of  politeness  can  only  polish  the  surface  ;  and 
there  are  eome  parts  of  the  human  character  wiiich  still  appear 
very  rough.  Even  politeness  has  its  regulations  for  strife  and 
murder,  and  establishes  iniquity  by  a  law.  The  evil  disposition  is 
a  kind  ofsubterraneous  fire  ;  and  in  some  form  it  will  have  vent. 
Are  they  the  result  of  court  influence'!  No.  'J'he  truth  is,  if 
civil  government  in  some  form  did  not  influence  the  tears  of  the 
unjust  and  contentious  part  of  the  community,  there  would  be  no 
security  to  those  who  are  peaceably  inclined,  and  especially  to 
those  who  are  withal  religious,  and  who?-"  ,'io  ..->  conduct,  like  that 
of  Noah,  condemns  the  world.  Now  the  same  disposition  which, 
in  persons  whose  power  extends  only  4o  a  cottage,  wdl  operate  iu 
a  way  of  domestic  discord  ;  in  others   whose   influence   extends 


102  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  I. 

to  the  affairs  of  nations  will  operate  on  a  more  enlarged  scale, 
producing  war  and  ali  the  dire  calamities  which  attend  it.  The 
sum  of  the  whole  is  this  :  When  the  preponderating  part  of  the 
world  shall  cease  to  be  proud,  ambitious,  envious,  covetious,  lovers 
of  their  ownselves,  false,  malignant,  and  intriguing;  when  they 
shall  love  God  and  one  another  out  of  a  pure  heart  ;  then,  and 
not  till  then,  may  we  expect  wars  to  cease,  and  the  state  of  man- 
kind to  be  essentially  meliorated.  While  these  dispositions  re- 
main, they  will  be  certain  to  show  themselves.  If  the  best  laws 
or  constitution  in  the  world  stand  in  their  way,  they  will,  on  cer- 
tain occasions,  bear  down  all  before  them. 

An  anonymous  writer  in  the  Monthly  Magazine*  (a  work 
which,  without  avowing  it,  is  pretty  evidently  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  infidelity,)  has  instituted  an  inqtiiry  into  "  The  probability  of 
the  future  melioration  of  the  state  of  mankind."  A  dismal  pros- 
pect indeed  it  is  which  he  holds  up  to  his  fellow-creatures  ;  yet 
were  1  an  Infidel,  like  him,  I  should  acquiesce  in  many  things 
which  he  advances.  The  anchor  of  his  hopes  is  an  increase  of 
knowledge,  and  the  effects  of  this  are  circumscribed  within  a  very 
narrow  boundary.  With  respect  to  what  we  call  civilization,  he 
reckons  it  to  have  undergone  all  the  vicissitudes  of  which  it  is 
capable.  Scientijic  rehnement  may  contribute  to  the  happiness  of 
a  few  indivicuals  ;  but,  he  fears,  cannot  be  made  a  ground  of  much 
advantage  to  the  mass  of  mankind.  Great  scope,  indeed,  remains 
for  the  operation  of  increased  knowledge  in  improvement  in  gov- 
ernment: but  even  here  it  can  only  cure  those  evils  which  arise 
from  ignorance,  and  not  those  which  proceed  from  intention  ; 
which,  ''  while  the  propensity  to  prefer  our  own  interests  above 
that  of  the  community  is,"  as  he  acknowledges,  "interwoven  into 
our  very  nature,"  will  always  form  the  mass  of  existing  ills.  If", 
indeed,  the  majority  of  a  community,  he  says,  became  so  enlight- 
ened concerning  their  interests,  and  so  wise,  steady,  and  unanim- 
ous in  the  pursuit  of  Ihem,  as  to  overcome  all  that  resistance 
which  the  possessors  of  undue  advantages  will  always  make  to  a 
change  unfavourable  to  themselves,  something  might  be   hopeti 

*  For  Tebrmry,  1799,  p  P. 


(  UAPTLK  VII. ^  A  SOURCE  OF  HAPPINKSo.  [03 

lor.  Hut  thj*,  while  they  are  uiuler  their  old  masters,  he  reckons 
as  next  to  impossible.  As  to  political  revolutions,  he  dirl  form 
high  expectations  from  them  ;  but  his  hopes  are  at  an  end.  "  1 
have  only  the  wish  left,"  says  he,  *'  the  confidence  is  gone."  As 
to  improved  si/stcms  of  morality,  which  he  considers  as  the  art  of 
living  happy,  though  it  mi<!;ht  serm  promising,  yet  history,  he  verv 
justly  remarks,  does  not  allow  us  to  expect  that  men,  in  propor- 
tion as  they  advance  in  this  species  of  knowledge,  will  become 
more  just,  more  temperate,  or  more  benevolent.  Of  the  extinc- 
tion of  wars,  he  has  no  hope.  The  new  order  of  things  which 
seemed  opening  in  Europe,  and  to  bid  fair  for  it,  has  rathci 
mcrcased  the  evil  :  and  as  to  Christianity,  'it  has  been  tried,  it 
seems,  and  found  to  be  insufficient  for  the  purpose.  Commerce, 
instead  of  binding  the  nations  in  a  golden  chain  of  mutual  peace  and 
friendship,  seems  only  to  have  given  additional  motives  for  war. 

'J'he  amount  is.  There  is  little  or  no  hope  of  the  slate  of  man- 
kind being  meliorated  on  public  principles.  All  the  improrement 
he  can  discern  in  this  way  consists  in  there  being  a  little  more  len- 
ity in  the  government  of  some  countries  than  formerly :  as  to 
this,  it  is  balanced  by  the  prodigious  increase  of  standing  armies, 
and  other  national  burdens. 

The  only  way  in  which  an  increase  in  kncndedge  is  to  operate 
to  the  melioration  of  the  state  of  mankind  is  in  private  life.  It  is 
to  soften  and  humanize  men's  manners,  and  emancipate  theii 
minds  from  the  shackles  of  superstition  and  bigotry  ;  names  which 
writers  of  this  class  commonly  bestow  upon  Christianity.  This  is 
the  boundary  beyond  which,  whatever  be  his  wishes,  the  hopes  of 
this  writer  will  not  sutler  him  to  pass  :  and  even  this  respects  only 
Europe  and  her  immediate  connexions,  and  not  the  whole  of  them. 
The  great  mass  of  mankind  are  in  an  absolutely  hopeless  condi- 
tion :  for  there  are  no  means  of  carrying  our  improvements  amont; 
them  but  by  conquest,  and  conquest  is  a  Pandora's  box,  at  tht 
mention  of  which  he  shudders. 

Such  are  the  prospects  of  unbelievers  ;  such  is  the  horrid 
despondency  under  which  they  sink  when  providence  counteracts 
their  favourite  schemes  ;  and  such  the  spirit  which  they  labour  U' 
infuse  into  the  minds  of  men  in  order  to  make  them  happy  !  Chri- 


10i\  CmilS'l'IAiNITY  [Part  I. 

lian  reader,  Have  you  no  better  hopes  than  these  ?  Are  you  not 
acquainted  with  a  principle,  which,  like  the  machine  of  Archi- 
medes, will  remove  this  mighty  mass  of  evils?  Be  they  as  great 
and  as  numerous  as  they  may,  if  all  can  be  reduced  to  a  single 
cause,  and  that  cause  removed,  the  work  is  done.  All  the  evils 
of  which  this  writer  complains  are  reducible  to  that  one  principle, 
which,  he  says,  (and  it  is  well  he  says  it,)  "  is  interwoven  into  our 
very  nature  ;  namely,  The  propensity  to  prefer  our  own  interests 
above  that  of  the  community."  It  is  this  propensity  that  operates 
in  the  great,  and  induces  them  to  ''  oppose  every  thing  that  would 
be  unfavourable  to  their  power  and  advantage  ;''  and  the  same 
thing  operates  among  common  people  ;  great  numbers  of  whom 
it  is  well  known,  would  sell  their  country  for  a  piece  of  bread. 
If  this  principle  cannot  be  removed,  I  shall,  with  this  writer,  for 
ever  despair  of  any  essential  changes  for  the  better  in  the  state  of 
mankind,  and  will  content  myself  with  cultivating  private  and 
domestic  happiness,  and  hoping  for  the  blessedness  of  a  future  life  ; 
but  if  it  can,  I  must  leave  him  to  despair  alone. 

My  hopes  are  not  founded  on  forms  of  government,  nor  even  on 
an  increase  of  knowledge,  though  each  may  have  its  value  ;  but 
oti  the  spirit  hy  which  both  the  rvlers  and  the  people  will  be  governed. 
All  forms  of  government  have  hitherto  rested  on  the  basis  of  self- 
love.  The  wisest  and  best  statesmen  have  been  obliged  to  take  it 
for  granted  that  the  mass  of  every  people  will  be  governed  by  this 
principle  ;  and,  consequently,  all  their  schemes  have  been  direct- 
ed to  the  balancing  of  things  in  such  a  manner  as  that  people,  in 
pursuing  their  own  interest,  should  promote  that  of  the  public.  If 
in  any  case  they  have  presumed  on  the  contrary,  experience  has 
soon  taught  them  that  all  their  schemes  are  visionary,  and  inappli- 
cable to  real  life.  But  if  the  mass  of  the  people,  composed  of  all 
the  different  orders  of  society,  were  governed  by  a  spirit  of  justice 
and  disinterested  benevolence,  systems  of  government  might  safely 
be  formed  on  this  basis.  It  would  then  be  sufficient  for  statesmen 
to  ascertain  what  was  right,  and  best  adapted  to  promote  the  good 
of  the  community,  and  the  people  would  cheerfully  pursue  it ;  and, 
pursuing  this,  would  find  their  own  good  more  effectually  promo- 
ted, than  by  all  the  little  discordant  arts  of  a  selfish  mind. 


Chapter  VII.]  A  SOURCE  OF  HAPPlNEss.  105 

The  excellence  of  the  most  admired  conslilulions  wliicb  Lave 
hitherto  appeared  in  the  world,  has  chiefly  consisted  in  the  balance 
of  power  being  so  distributed  anionii  the  different  orders  of  society, 
as  that  no  one  sliould  m.ileri  illy  oppressor  injure  the  other.  They 
have  endeavoured  to  set  boundaries  to  each  other's  encroachments, 
and  contrived,  in  some  degree,  to  counteract  venality,  corruption, 
and  tumult.  I'lUt  all  this  supposes  a  corrupt  state  of  .society:  and 
amounts  to  no  more  than  making  the  best  of  things,  taking  them  as 
they  are.  As  things  are,  locks,  keys,  bolts  and  bars  are  necessary 
in  our  houses;  but  it  were  better  if  there  were  no  occasion  for 
them.  I  do  not  take  upon  me  to  say  that  things  will  ever  be  in 
such  a  state  as  that  there  shall  be  no  need  of  these  political  pre- 
cautions ;  but  I  believe  they  will  be  far  less  necessary  than  at 
present.  If  the  Bible  be  true,  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  will 
cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea  ;  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  will  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ; 
idolatry,  and  every  species  of  false  religion,  shall  be  no  more  ; 
the  arts  and  instruments  of  war  shall  be  laid  aside,  and  exchanged 
for  those  of  husbandry  ;  the  different  tribes  of  man  shall  be  united 
in  one  common  band  of  brotherly  love  ;  slavery  and  oppression  will 
cease  ;  righteousness  will  be  established  in  the  earth  ;  and  the 
work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteous- 
ness quietness  and  assurance  for  ever. 

But  "  Christianity  has  been  tried,"  it  seems,  "  and  found  insuf- 
ficient.'' That  it  has  not  been  as  yet,  suflicient  to  banish  unjust 
wars  from  the  earth,  is  true  ;  and  it  were  more  than  wonderful  if  it 
had,  seeing  it  has  never  yet  been  cordially  embraced  by  the  major- 
ity, nor  perhaps  by  the  preponderating  part  of  any  nation.  Never- 
theless it  has  had  its  influence.  This  gloomy  writer  himself  ac- 
knowledges, that  the  state  of  society  in  Euro  e  and  America,  that 
is  to  say  in  Christendom,  is  far  preferable  to  what  it  is  in  other 
parts  of  the  earth.  Of  the  rest  of  the  world  he  has  no  hope.  Has 
Christianity  done  nothing  in  this  case  ?  That  thousands  in  differ- 
ent nations  are,  by  a  cordial  belief  of  it,  rendered  sober,  just,  dis- 
interested, and  peaceable  ;  and  that  the  state  of  society  at  large  is 
greatly  meliorated,  has,  I  hope, been  alreaily  proved.'*     To  bolievc 

*  Chnp.  V,  \  I. 
Vol.  hi.  It 


J  06  CHRISTIANITY  [Part  I. 

then  in  the  future  accomplishment  of  the  foregoing  prophecies  is 
only  to  believe  that  what  is  already  effected  in  individuals  will  be 
extended  to  the  general  body  of  mankind,  or,  at  least,  to  such  a 
proportion  of  them  as  shall  be  sufficient  to  give  a  preponderance  in 
human  affairs. 

Moreover,  the  same  book  which  declares  that  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ, 
has  foretold,  in  great  variety  of  language,  the  downfall  of  the  Pa- 
pal Antichrist,  and  that  by  means  of  the  same  powers  from  which 
its  dominion  was  first  derived.  We  have,  in  part,  seen  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  one,  and  live  in  expectation  of  the  other.  We  are  not 
ignorant  of  the  evil  designs  of  Infidels  ;  but  we  believe  that  God  is 
above  them,  and  that  they  are  only  instruments  in  his  hand  in  the 
fulfilment  of  his  word.  While,  therefore,  we  feel  for  the  miseries 
of  mankind,  occasioned  by  the  dreadful  devastations  of  war,  we 
sorrow  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope;  but  are  persuaded  that  all 
things,  even  now,  are  working  together  for  good  :  and,  while  we 
pity  individual  sufferers,  we  cannot  join  the  whining  lamentations  of 
interested  men — Alas,  Alas  that  great  city .'  On  the  contrary,  we 
feel  disposed  to  join  the  song  of  the  heavenly  host,  Amen,  Alleluia  5 
Salvation,  and  glory,  and  honour,  and  power,  unto  the  Lord  our 
Gcd:  for  true  and  righteous  are  his  judgments. — Let  us  be  glad 
and  rejoice,  and  give  honour  to  him  :  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb 
is  come,  and  his  bride  hath  made  herself  readi/. 

If,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Bolingbroke,  Volney,  and  other 
Deists,  we  knew  no  other  source  of  virtue  and  happiness  than  self- 
love,  we  should  often  be  less  happy  than  we  are.  Our  blessedness 
is  bound  up  with  that  of  Christ  and  his  followers  throughout  the 
world.  His  friends  are  our  friends,  and  his  enemies  our  enemies  ; 
they  that  seek  his  life  seek  ours  ;  the  prosperity  of  his  kingdom  is 
our  prosperity,  and  we  prefer  it  above  our  chief  joy.  From  the 
public  stock  of  blessedness  being  thus  considered  as  the  common 
property  of  every  individual,  arises  a  great  and  constant  influx  of 
enjoyment.  Hence  it  is  that,  in  times  when  temporal  comforts 
fail,  or  family  troubles  depress,  or  a  cloud  hangs  over  our  particu- 
lar connexions,  or  death  tbreatens  to  arrest  us  in  a  course  of  pleas- 
v.v  labuiir,  UK  have  stiii  our  resource.--  of  consolation.     '  Affuir*  uith 


(Jhapteh  VIl.j  A  iJOURCK  OF  HAl'PlNf:SS.  J07 

me  are  sinking;  but  he  must  increase.'' — '  My  house  is  not  so  with 
God;  but  the  kingdom  of  my  Lord  shall  be  established  forever." — 
'  His  interest  sinks  in  this  congregation  ;  but  it  rises  elsewhere.' — 
'  1  die;  but  God  will  surely  ^  isit  you!'  Such  is  the  heritage  of 
the  servants  oi  the  Lord  ;  and  sucli  the  blessedness  of  those  whose 
chief  desire  it  is,  tliat  they  iiiai/  sec  (he  good  of  his  chosen,  that 
they  may  rejoice  in  the  gladness  of  his  nation,  and  that  they  may 
glory  with  his  inheritance. 


GOSPEL  ITS  OWN  WITNESS,  &o. 


PART  II. 


I\   W  in<  M  TIIK  HARMONY   OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION  IS  CONSIULKEH 
\s    \N   KVIDENCE  OF  ITS  DIVINITY, 


IF  Christianity  be  an  imposture,  it  may,  like  all  other  impos- 
tures, be  detected.  Falsehood  may  always  be  proved  to  clash 
with  fact,  with  reason,  or  with  itself;  and  often  with  them  all.  If, 
on  the  contrary,  its  origin  be  divine,  it  may  be  expected  to  bear 
the  character  of  consistency,  which  distinguishes  every  other 
divine  production.  If  the  scriptures  can  be  proved  to  harmonize 
with  historic  feet,  with  truth,  with  themselves,  and  with  sober 
reason;  they  must,  considering  what  they  profess,  be  divinely 
inspired,  and  Christianity  must  be  of  God. 


CilAPTElil. 


niK   llAllMC.Ny   0>   stlllkTL'RE  WITH  HISTORIC  FACT, EVINCED  BY   THI. 
KULFILMENT  OK    PUOPHECY. 


Ik  the  pretence  which  the  scriptures  make  to  divine  inspiratiou 
be  unfounded,  it  can  be  no  very  difficult  undertaking  to  prove  it 
30.  The  sacred  writers,  besides  abounding  in  history,  doctrine, 
and  morality,  have  dealt  largely  in  prophecy:  and  this,  not  in  the 
manner  of  the  heathen  priests,  who  made  use  of  dark  and  dubious 
language.  Their  meaning,  in  general,  is  capable  of  being  under- 
stood, even  at  this  distance  of  time  ;  and,  in  many  instances,  cannot 
be  mistaken.  The  dispute,  therefore,  between  believers  and  un- 
believers, is  reducible  to  a  short  issue.  If  scripture  prophecy  be 
divinely  inspired,  it  will  be  accomplished:  if  it  be  imposture,  it 
will  not. 

Let  us  suppose  that,  by  digging  in  the  earth,  a  chest  were  dis- 
covered, containing  a  number  of  ancient  curiosities;  and,  among 
other  things,  a  tablet  inscribed  with. calculations  of  tlie  most  re- 
markable eclipses  thatsho;il(l  take  place  for  a  groat  wliile  to  come. 
These  calculations  are  examined,  and  found  to  correspond  with 
fact  for  more  than  two  thousand  years  past.  The  inspectors  can- 
not agree,  perhaps,  iti  deciding  who  was  the  author,  whetlier  it 
had  not  gone  through  several  hands  wiien  it  was  deposited  in  the 
chest,  and  various  other  questions:  but  does  this  invalidate  the 
truth  of  the  calculations,  or  diininish  the  value  of  the  t  ddot  ? 

It  cannot  be  objected,  that  events  have  been  pre>licte(i  from 
mere  political  foresight,  which  have  actually  come  to  pass;  for, 
thougii  this  may  have  been  the  case  in  a  few  instances,  wherein 
causes  have  already  existed  which  alTorded  ground  tor  the  conclu- 
sion, yet  it  is  impossible  that  the  successive  changes  and  revolu- 
iions  of  empires,  some  of  wliirh  were  more  than  a  thousand  years 


112  FULP'ILMENT  [Part  II. 

distant,  and  depended  on  ten  thousand  unknown  incidents,  should 
be  the  objects  of  human  speculation. 

Mr.  Paine  seems  to  feel  the  difficulty  attending  his  cause  on  this 
subject.  His  method  of  meeting  it  is  not  by  soberly  examining 
the  agreement  or  disagreement  of  prophecy  and  history:  that 
would  not  have  suited  his  purpose.  But,  as  though  he  had  made 
a  wonderful  discovery,  he  in  the  first  place  goes  about  to  prove 
that  the  prophets  wrote  poetry;  and  from  hence  would  persuade 
us  that  a  prophet  was  no  other  than  an  ancient  Jewish  bard.  That 
the  prophecies  are  what  is  now  called  poetic,  Mr.  Paine  need  not 
have  given  himself  the  trouble  to  prove,  as  no  person  of  common 
understanding  can  doubt  it:  but  the  question  is,  Did  not  these 
writings,  in  whatever  kind  of  language  they  were  written,  contain 
predictions  of  future  events:'  yea,  and  of  the  most  notorious  and 
remarkable  events,  such  as  should  form  the  grand  outlines  of  his- 
tory in  the  following  ages  ?  Mr.  Paine  will  not  deny  this;  nor 
will  he  soberly  undertake  to  disprove  that  many  of  those  events 
have  already  come  to  pass.  He  will,  however,  take  a  shorter 
method;  a  method  more  suited  to  his  turn  of  mind.  He  will  call 
the  prophets  '  impostors  and  liars;"  he  will  roundly  assert,  with- 
out a  shadow  of  proof,  and  in  defiance  of  historic  evidence,  that 
the  prediction  concerning  Cyrus  was  written  after  the  event  took 
place:  he  will  labor  to  pervert  and  explain  away  some  few  of  the 
prophecies;  and  get  rid  of  the  rest  by  calling  the  writer  "  a  false 
prophet,"  and  his  production  "  a  book  of  falsehoods."*  These 
are  weapons  worthy  of  Mr.  Paine's  warfare.  But  why  all  this  rage 
against  an  ancient  bard  ?  Just  now  a  prophet  was  only  a  poet,  and 
the  idea  of  a  predictor  of  future  events  was  not  included  in  the 
meaning  of  the  term.  It  seems,  however,  by  this  time^  that  Mr. 
Paine  has  found  a  number  o{ predictions  in  the  prophetic  writings, 
to  dismiss  which  he  is  obliged,  as  is  usual  with  him  in  cases  of 
emergency,  to  summon  all  his  talents  of  misrepresentation  and 
abuse. 

I  take  no  particular  notice  of  this  writer's  attempts  to  explain 
away  a  few  of  the  predictions  of  Isaiah,  and  other  prophets.  Those 

*  Age  of  Roasor,   Parf  V.  pp.  5.7.  44.  47. 


tiiAiTERl.]  OF  I'ROniECY.  113 

wbo  have  uiulerlakfin  to  answer  him,  have  perforoied  this  part  of 
the  business.  I  shall  only  notice  that  he  has  not  dared  to  meet 
the  great  body  of  scripture  prophecy,  or  fairly  to  look  it  in  the 
face. 

To  say  nothing  of  the  predictions  of  the  destruction  of  mankind 
by  a  flood;  of  that  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  by  lire;  of  the  de- 
scendants of  Abraham  being  put  in  possession  of  Canaan  within  a 
limited  period;  and  of  various  other  events,  the  history  as  well  as 
the  prophecy  of  which  is  confined  to  the  scriptures;  let  us  review 
those  predictions,  the  fulfilment  of  which  has  been  recorded  by 
historians  who  knew  nothing  of  them,  and,  consequently,  could 
have  no  design  in  their  favour. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  sacred  history  ends  where  profane 
history,  that  part  of  it  at  least  which  is  commonly  reckoned  authen- 
tic, begins.  I'rior  to  the  Babylonish  captivity,  the  scriptural  wri- 
ters were  in  the  habit  of  narrating  the  leading  events  of  their  coun- 
try, and  of  incidentally  introducing  those  of  the  surrounding  nations: 
but  shortly  after  this  time  the  great  changes  in  the  world  began  to 
be  recorded  by  other  hands,  as  Herodotus,  Xenophon  and  other?. 
From  this  period  they  dealt  chielly  in  prophecy,  leaving  it  to  com- 
mon historians  to  record  its  fulfilment. 

Mr.  Paine  says,  the  scripture  prophecies  are  "  a  book  of  false- 
hoods." Let  us  examine  this  charge.  Isaiah,  above  a  hundred 
years  before  the  captivity,  predicted  the  destruction  of  the  Baby- 
lonish empire  by  the  Medes  and  Persians,  and  Judah's  consequent 
deliverance.  The  plunderer  is  plundered,  and  the  destroyer  is  des- 
troyed :  Go  up,  O  Elam  ;  beseige,  0  Media  :  all  the  crying  thereof 
have  I  made  to  cease.*  Ask  Herodotus  and  Xenophon,  Was  this  a 
falsehood  ? 

Daniel,  fourteen  years  before  the  establishment  of  the  Medo- 
Persijin  dominion  by  the  taking  of  Babylon,  described  that  domin- 
ion f^'ith  its  conquests,  and  the  superiority  of  the  Persian  influence 
to  that  of  the  Median,  Under  the  symbol  of  a  ram  with  two  horns 
/  lifted  up  mine  eyes  and  saw,  and,  behold,  there  stood  by  the  river 

*  Lowth'3  translation  of  Isaiah  xxi.  2.  Other  prophecies  of  the  same  event 
may  be  seen  in  Isa.  xiii.  xiv.  xxi.  xliii.  14 — 17.  zlir.  28.  xlv.  1— 4.zlru. 
.Tor.  XXV.  12—26, 1.  li.     Hub.  ii, 

Vnc.  III.  15 


1  J  4  FULFILMENT  [Paiit  IL 

a  ram  which  harl  fv^o  horns,  and  the  two  horns  were  high  ;  hut  the 
one  was  higher  than  the  other,  and  the  higher  came  vp  last.  I  saw 
the  ram  pushing  westioard,  and.  northward,  and  snttthward ;  so  that 
no  beasts  might  stand  before  him,  neither  icas  there  any  that  could 
deliver  old  of  his  hand ;  but  he  did  according  to  his  will,  and  became 
great.  This  is  expoinuled  as  follows  :  The  ram  which  thou  sawtf^t 
having  two  horns  are  the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia.*  Ask  the 
afore-mentioned  historians,  Wns  this  :»  falsehood  ? 

The  same  Dnniel,  at  the  same  time,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
tiiree  years  before  the  event,  predicted  the  overthrow  of  this 
Medo-Persian  dominion,  by  the  arms  of  Greece,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Alexander  ;  and  described  the  latter  government  under 
(he  symbol  of  a  he-goat,  with  a  notable  horn  between  his  eyes. 
As  1  was  considering,  behold  a  he-goat  came  from  the  tvest,  on  the 
face  of  the  whole  earth,  and  touched  not  the  ground :  and  the  goat 
had  a  notable  horn  between  his  eyes.  And  he  came  to  the  ram  that 
had  two  horns,  lohich  I  had  seen  standing  before  the  river,  and  ran 
unto  him  in  the  f  try  of  his  power.  And  I  saw  him  come  close  unto 
the  ram,  and  he  was  moiled  with  cholcr  against  him,  and  smote  the' 
ram,  and  brake  his  two  horns  ;  and  there  was  no  power  in  the  ram 
to  stand  before  him,  but  he  cast  him  down  to  the  ground,  and  stamp- 
ed upon  him  :  and  there  was  none  that  could  deliver  the  ram  out  of 
his  hand.  The  exposition  of  this  vision  follows  :  The  roughgoat 
is  the  king  of  Grecia  ;  and  the  great  horn  that  is  between  his  eyes 
is  the  first  king.]  Ask  Diodorus  Siculus,  Plutarch,  and  other  his- 
torians of  those  times.  Was  this  a  falsehood  ? 

The  same  Daniel,  at  the  same  time,  two  hundred  and  thirty 
years  before  the  event,  predicted  the  death  of  Alexander,  and  the 
division  of  his  empire  among  four  of  his  principal  commanders, 
each  of  whom  had  an  extensive  dominion.  The  he-goat  waxed  very 
great :  and  when  he  was  strong,  the  great  horn  was  broken  ;  and  for 
it  came  vp  four  notable  ones,  towards  the  four  winds  of  heaven. 
The   interpretation  of  this  was  as  follows  :  JVow  the  great  horn 

*  Dan.  viii.  3,  4.  20.         See  also  Chap.  vii.  5. 

t  Daa.  viii.  5—7.  21.    See  also  Chap.  xi.  2—4, 


Chaiter  l.J  OF  I'ROI'IIJXV.  JJ5 

being  broken,  loliertus  four  stood  up  Jor  </,  J'niii-  knt<>tlomii  shall 
stand  up  out  of  the  nation,  but  not  in  his  power.*'  Ai«k  llie  iifore- 
inentioned  liistori;ins  oflhose  tiiin'!*,      \V;is  Uii<  ;t  l.ilscliood  ! 

Tliesaine  U.iiiiel,  at  tlie  same  lime,  three  liumlred  and  eij^lity 
years  before  the  event,  foretold  the  outrageous  rei<i,ii,  and  sudden 
death  of  Auliocus  Epipliaues,  kiiii?  of  Syria  :  particularly  that  by 
dattery  and  treachery  he  should  accomplish  his  end,  and  un  uccouat 
of  the  degencr.icy  of  the  Jews,  shoidd  be  permitted  for  a  time  to 
ravish  their  country,  interrupt  their  ordinary  course  of  worship, 
profane  their  temple,  and  [)ersecute,  even  to  death,  those  who  re- 
fused to  comply  with  his  heathen  abominations  :  but  that,  in  the 
midst  of  Ids  career,  he  should  be  cut  ofT  by  a  sudden  visitation 
from  heaven.  Jlnd  out  of  one  of  them  ({he  four  blanches  of  the 
Grecian  empire)  cume  forth  a  little  horn,  xa-liick  tcuxcd  exceeding 
great,  toward  the  south,  and  toward  the  east,  and  toward  the  pleas- 
ant land.  And  it  tcaxed  great,  even  to  the  host  of  heaven  ;  and  it 
cast  down  some  of  the  host  and  of  the  star';  to  the  ground,  and 
stamped  upon  them.  Yea,  he  magnified  himself  even  to  the 
prince  of  the  host,  and  by  him  the  daily  sacrifice  was  taken 
away,  and  the  place  of  his  sanctuary  was  cast  down .  And  an 
host  was  given  him  against  the  daily  sacrifice,  oy  reason  of 
transgression,  and  it  cast  down  the  truth  to  the  ground ;  and 
it  practised  and  prospered.  Of  this  the  following  is  the  expo- 
sition :  In  the  latter  time  <f  their  kingdom,  when  the  transgressors 
are  come  to  the  full,  a  king  offeree  countenance,  and  unilerstand- 
ing  dark  sentences,  shall  stand  up.  And  his  power  shall  be  mighty, 
but  not  by  his  own  power  :  and  he  shall  destroy  wonderfully,  and 
shall  prosper  and  practice,  and  shall  destroy  the  mighty  and  the  holy 
people.  And  through  his  policy  also  he  shall  cause  craft  to  pros- 
per in  his  hand ;  and  he  shall  magnify  himself  in  his  heart,  and 
by  peace  shall  destroy  many  ;  he  shall  also  stand  up  against  the 
prince  of  princes  ;  but  he  sh(dl  be  broken  without  hand.] 

Daniel  also  foretels,  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  his  prophecies, 
the  wars  between  this  king  of  Syria  and  Ptiolemy  Philometer,  king 
of  Egypt;  with  the  interposition  of  .he  Romans,  whose  ambassa- 
dors should  come  over  in  ships  from   «  hittim,  and  compel  him  to 
*  Dan.  viii,  8.  22.     Sec  also  Chap.  vii.  6. 
+  Da!i.  viii.  9— IJ.  23—25. 


116  *  FULFILMENT  [Fart  II. 

desist:  also  that,  be^n^thus  disappointed  ol"  his  object  in  Egypt, 
he  should  return  full  of  wrath  and  indignation  to  his  own  land,  and 
wreak  his  vengeance  upon  the  Jews,  whose  country  lay  in  his  way, 
though  they  had  done  nothing  to  offend  him.  I  will  not  say,  ask 
Josephus,  Diodorus  Siculus,  and  Polybius,  if  these  were  false- 
hoods ;  ask  Porphyry,  a  professed  enemy  to  the  holy  scriptures, 
both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  who  wrote  against  them 
about  the  middle  of  the  third  century.  He  has  proved,  from  the 
testimony  of  six  or  seven  historians  of  those  times,  that  these  pre- 
dictions were  all  exactly  fulfilled;  and  like  Mr.  Paine  by  the  Prophe- 
cies concerning  Cyrus,  is  driven  merely  on  account  of  their  being 
true,  to  fly  in  the  face  of  historic  evidence,  and  maintain  that  they 
could  not  be  the  production  of  Daniel,  but  must  have  been  written 
by  some  Jew  ofter  the  events  took  place.* 

As,  in  the  eiginh  and  eleventh  chapters  of  his  prophecies,  Dan- 
iel has  foretold  the  Persian  and  Grecian  governments,  with  the 
subdivision  of  the  latter,  and  how  they  should  affect  the  Jewish 
people  ;  so,  in  the  seventh  chapter,  he  has,  in  connexion  with 
them,  foretold  the  government  of  Rome.  This  singular  empire 
he  represents  as  exceeding  all  that  has  gone  before  it  in  power  and 
terror  ;  and  as  that  of  Greece,  soon  after  the  death  of  Alexander, 
should  be  divided  into  four  kingdoms,  signified  by  the  four  heads 
of  the  third  beast,  so  this,  it  is  foretold,  should  be  at  the  time  of 
its  dissolution,  divided  into  ten  kingdoms,  which  are  signified  by  the 
ten  horns  of  the  fourth  beast.  Ask  universal  history.  Is  this  a 
falsehood  ?  Those  who  adopt  the  cause  of  porphyry  must,  in  this 
instance  desert  his  hypothesis  ;  they  cannot  say  that  this  part  of 
the  prophecy  was  written  by  some  Jew  after  the  event  took  place, 
seeing  Porphyry  himself  has  acknowledged  its  existence  some 
hundred  of  years  before  it  was  accomplished. 

The  predictions  of  this  prophet  did  not  end  here  :  he  at  the 
same  time  foretold  that  there  should  arise  among  the  ten  kingdoms, 
into  which  the  Roman  Empire  should  be  broken,  a  power  diverse 
from  all  the  rest ;  a  little  horn  which   should  speak  great  words 

*  See  Prideaux's  Connexion,  Part  I.  Book  II.  VIII.  Part  II.  Book  III.  where 
the  accomplishment  of  all  the  foregoing;  events  is  clearly  narrated,  ami  the 
authorities  cited. 


CiiAPTinl.]  OF  PROPHECY.  II7 

against  the  Most  JJigh,  and  wear  out  the  saints^  of  the  Most  High  , 
and  thut  this  power  should  continue  until  a  time,  and  times,  and 
the  dividing  of  time.  At  the  end  of  this  period,  he  adds,  the 
judgment  shall  sit,  and  thei/  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  con- 
sume and  to  destroy  unto  the  end.  Are  these  falsehoods  ?  Let  the 
history  of  the  last  twelve  hundred  years,  and  the  present  state  of 
the  Papal  hierarchy,  determine. 

Passino;  over  the  predictions  of  the  Messiah,  whose  birth,  place 
of  nativity,  time  of  appearance,  manner  of  life,  doctrine,  miracles, 
death  and  resurrection,  were  each  particularly  pointed  out  ;• 
let  us  examine  a  few  principles  from  the  New  Testament.  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  foretold  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Romans,  and  limited  the  time  of  its  accomplishment  to  the  then 
present  generation.]  Ask  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  Is  this  a 
falsehood  ? 

It  was  intimated,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  Jewish  people 
should  not  only  fall  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  but  that  great  num- 
bers of  them  should  be  led  a-way  captive  into  all  nations  ;  and  that 
Jerusalem  should  be  trodden  dozen  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times 
of  the  Gentiles  skovld  he  fulfilled. \  Ask  the  present  descendants 
of  that  unhappy  people.  Is  this  a  falsehood  ? 

The  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  foretold  that  there  should  be  a 
falling  azvaij,  or  a  grand  apostacy  in  the  Christian  Church  ;  where- 
in the  man  of  sin  should  be  revealed,  even  the  son  of  perdition  ;  who 
would  oppose  and  exalt  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that 
is  zvorshipped  :  and  who  as  God  Zi-ould  sit  m  the  temple  of  God, 
showing  himself  to  be  God.^  Also  in  his  Epistle  to  Timothy  ;  JVow 
the  spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter  times  some  shall  de- 
part from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits,  and  doctrines 
of  devils  ;  speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy ;  having  their  conscience 
scared  zvith  a  hot  iron  ;  forbidding  to  marry,  and  commanding  tr> 
abstain  from  meats  xvhich  God  hath  created  to  be  received  with 
thanksgiving  of  them  which  believe  and  know  the  tnith.W 

*  Is3.  ix.  6  Micah  V.  2.  Dan.  ir.  20 — 27,  Isa.  xiii.  2.  xxxv.5,  6.  liii 
Psa.  xri.  10,  1 1.  t  Matt.  xriv.  1—35.     Luke  xxi.  i  V.nkc  xxi.  24. 

',  2  Ths«.  ii.  0.  4.  |l  2  Tim.  iv.  1—3. 


1 1 8  FULFILMENT  [Part  11. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  Apocalypse  of  John   respects  this 
grand  apostacy,  and  the  corrupt  community  in  which  it  was  accom- 
plished.    He  describes  it  with  great  variety  of  expressions.     On 
some  accounts  it  is  represented  under  the  form  of  a  city,   on  oth- 
ers of  a  beast,   and  on  others  of  a  woman   sitting  upon  a  beast. 
That  we  might  be  at  no  loss  to  distinguish  it  on  its  appearance,  it 
is  intimated  that   it  should  not  be  so  much   a  civil  as  an  apostate 
ecclesiastical  power  :  it  is  a  harlot,  opposed   to  the   bride,    the 
Lamb's  wife  ;  and   that  it  should  greatly   abound   in  wealth  and 
worldly  grandeur  :    The  woman  was  arrayed  in  pur  pie  and  scarlet 
and  decked  with  gold,  and  precious  stones,  and  pearls  ;  that  its  do- 
minion should  not  be  confined   to  its  own    immediate   territories  : 
Power  was  given  it  over  all  kingdoms  and  tongues  and  nations  ; — 
that  its  authority  should  not   be  derived  from  its  own  conquests, 
but  from  the  voluntary,  consent  of  a  number  of  independent  king 
doms  to  come  under  its  yoke  :  The   kings  of  the  earth  have  one 
mind,  and  shall  give  their  power  and  strength   unto  the  beast; — 
that  it  should  be  distinguished  by  its  blasphemies,    idolatries,  and 
persecuting  spirit  :    Upon  her  were  the  names  of  blasphemy.     They 
should  make  an  image  of  the  beast,  and  as  many  as  ivould  not  wor- 
ship the  image  of  the  beast  were  to  be  killed.     And  the  woman  was 
drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints  ; — that  its   persecutions   should 
extend  to  such  a  length  as  for  no  man   to  be  allowed  the  common 
rights  of  men,  unless  he  became  subject  to  it  :  No  man  might  buy 
or  sell,  save  he  that  had  the  mark,  or  the  name  of  the  beast,  or  the 
number  of  his  name  ; — that  its   power  should  continue  for  a  time, 
times,  and  half  a  time,  forty  and  two  months,  or  one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  sixty  days  ;  during  which  long  period  God's  witness- 
es should  prophesy  in  sackcloth,   be  driven   as  into  a   wilderness, 
and,  and  as  it  were,  slain,   and  their  bodies  lie  unburied  ; — tinally, 
that  they  who  gave  it  an  existence,  should  be   the  instruments  of 
taking  it  away  :   The  kings,  or  powers,    of  the  earth  shall  hate  the 
whore,  and  burn  her  flesh  with  fire.*     Whether  all  or  any   part  of 
this  be  falsehood;  let  the  history  and  observation  determine. 

It  has  often  been  observed,  that  the  prophecies  of  the  Messiah 
were  so  numerous  and  explicit,  that  at  the  time  of  his  appearance 

*  Rev.  xi.  xii.  xvii. 


Chapter  l.i  OF  PROrilECY. 


119 


there  was  a  general  expectation  of  it,  not  only  in  Judea,  but  in  all 
the  neighbouring  nations  ;  and  is  not  the  same  thing  observable  at 
this  time,  of  the  fall  of  Antichrist,  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  and 
the  general  spread  of  the  gospel  ? 

Once  more  :  The  sacred  writers  have  predicted  the  opposition 
which  Christianity  should  encounter,  and  described  the  characters 
from  whom  it  should  proceed  :  In  the  last  days,  say  ihey,  perilous 
limes,  shall  come.  For  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  cov- 
etous, boasters,  proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents,  unthank- 
ful, unholy,  without  natural  affection,  truce- breakers,  false  accusers, 
incontinent,  ferce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good,  traitors,  heady, 
high-minded,  lovers  of  pleasures,  more  than  the  lovers  of  God. 
Again  :  There  shall  be  mockers  in  the  last  time,  who  shall  walk 
after  their  own  ungodly  lusts ;  filthy  dreamers,  who  defle  the  flesh, 
despise  dominion,  and  speak  evil  of  dignities  ;  raging  waves  of  the 
sea,  foaming  out  their  own  shame ;  icandering  stars,  to  whom  is  re' 
served  the  blackness  of  darkness  for  ever.*  Let  Mr.  Paine,  and 
other  Infidels,  consider  well  the  above  picture,  and  ask  their  own 
consciences,  Is  this  a  flilsehood  ? 

Bishop  Newton,  in  his  Dissertations,  has  clearly  evinced  the  ful- 
tilment  of  several  of  these  and  other  scripture-prophecies  ;  and  has 
shown  that  some  of  them  are  fulfilling  at  this  day.  To  those  Dis- 
sertations I  refer  the  reader.  Enough  has  been  said  to  enable  us 
to  determine  which  production  it  is  that  deserves  to  be  called  "  a 
book  of  falsehoods," — the  prophecies  of  scripture,  or  the  Jige  of 
Reason. 

•^2  Tim.  iii.  1—4.     Jude. 


CIJAPIKR  II. 


IHK  HAKMOW  OF  SCRIPTURE  WITH  TRUTH,  EVINCE1>  FROM  IT? 
ALiKBEMENT  WITH  THE  DICTATES  OF  AN  ENLIGHTENED  COV- 
•^CIKNCE,    A\P    THE    RESULT    OK    THE    CLOSEST    OBSERVATION. 


If  a  bnizca  minor  were  found  on  some  remote,  uaiiihabited 
islanil,  it  might  be  a  doubtful  matter  how  it  came  thither;  but  if  it 
properly  reflected  objects,  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  a 
real  mirror. 

The  Bible  was  written  with  the  professed  design  of  being  pro- 
fitable for  reproof ;  nor  was  there  ever  a  book  so  adapted  to  the 
purpose,  or  so  effectual  in  its  operation  in  disclosing  the  inward 
workings  of  the  human  mind.  Thousands  can  bear  witness,  from 
experience,  that  it  is  quick  and  powerful,  sharper  than  any  two 
edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit, 
and  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  Its  entrance 
into  the  mind  gives  light  :  and  light  which  discovers  the  works  of 
darkness.  Far  from  flattering  the  vices  of  mankind,  it  charges, 
without  ceremony,  every  son  of  Adam  with  possessing  the  heart 
of  an  apostate.  This  charge  it  brings  home  to  the  conscience,  not 
only  by  it?  pure  precepts,  and  awful  threatenings,  but  oftentimes 
by  the  very  invitations  and  promises  of  mercy  ;  which,  while  they 
cheer  the  heart  with  lively  hope,  carry  conviction  by  their  import 
to  the  very  soul.  In  reading  other  books  you  may  admire  the 
ingenuity  of  the  writer;  but  here  your  attention  is  turned  inward. 
Read  it  but  seriously,  and  your  heart  will  answer  to  its  descrip- 
tions. It  will  touch  the  secret  springs  of  sensibility  ;  and  if  you 
have  any  ingenuousness  of  mind  towards  God,  the  tears  of  grief 

Vol.  nr.  IG 


122  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  [Part  U. 

mingled  with  those  of  hope  and  gratitude,  will,  ere  you  are  aware, 
trickle  from  your  eyes. 

To  whatever  particulcir  vices  you  may  have  been  addicted,  here 
yo^  will  discover  your  likeness  ;  and  that,  not  as  by  a  comic 
representation  on  the  theatre,  which,  where  it  reclaims  one 
person  by  shaming  him  out  of  his  follies,  corrupts  a  thousand  ;  but 
in  a  way  that  will  bring  conviction  to  your  bosom. 

Come  see  a  man  which  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did  :  Is  not 
this  the  Christ?  Such  was  the  reasoning  of  the  woman  of  Sama- 
ria ;  and  who  could  have  reasoned  better  ?  That  which  makes 
manifest  must  be  light.  But  this  reasoning  is  applicable  to  other 
things,  as  well  as  to  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus.  No  man  can  for- 
bear saying  of  tliat  book,  that  doctrine,  or  that  preaching  which 
tells  him  all  that  ever  he  did.  Is  not  this  the  truth  ?  The  satis- 
faction afforded  by  such  evidence  approaches  near  to  iutuitive  cer- 
tainty ;  it  is  having  the  witness  in  ourselves. 

Should  it  be  objected,  that  though  this  may  satisfy  our  own 
minds,  yet  it  can  afford  no  evidence  to  others  ;  I  answer.  It  is  true, 
that  they  who  shun  the  light  cannot  be  supposed  to  possess  that 
evidence  of  its  being  what  it  is,  as  those  who  have  come  to  it  that 
their  deeds  may  be  made  manifest ;  yet  even  they,  if  at  all  ac- 
quainted with  the  Bible,  must  be  aware  that  the  likenesses  which 
it  draws  are,  in  a  considerable  degree,  their  own.  It  is  not  to  se- 
rious Christians  only,  that  the  gospel  is  a  mirror.  Many  who  never 
look  into  that  perfect  law  of  liberty  from  choice  and  delight,  so  as 
to  be  blessed  in  their  work,  but  only  glance  at  it  in  a  transient 
and  occasional  way,  yet  perceive  so  much  of  their  own  character 
in  it,  as  to  be  convinced  that  it  is  right,  and  that  they  are  wrong. 
The  secret  conviction  of  thousands  who  heard  the  word,  and  do  it 
not,  resembles  that  of  Pharaoh,  The  Lord  is  righteous,  and  I  and 
my  people  are  mncked.  The  impressions  of  such  people,  it  is  true, 
are  frequently  short  in  their  duration  :  like  a  man  who  seeth  his 
natural  face  in  a  glass,  they  go  away,  and  straightway  forget  what 
manner  of  persons  they  are  :  but  the  aversion  which  they  discover 
seriously  to  resume  the  subject,  places  it  beyond  all  reasonable 
doubt,  that,  let  their  hearts  be  as  they  may,  the  scriptures  have 
commended  themselves  to  their  consciences.     They  have  felt  the 


ChafterIi.)  riCKinuiu:  with  truth.  123 

point  of  tliis  Uvo-cclt^ed  sword,  aiul  arc  not  disposed  to  renew  llic 
encounter.  That  this  is  the  cnse  not  only  with  nominal  Christians, 
but  with  a  prcat  numl»er  of  professed  Deists,  is  manifest  from  the 
acknowledgments  ofsnrh  men  as  the  Earl  of  Rochester,  and  many 
others  who  have  relented  on  the  near  approach  of  death.  This 
is  oAen  a  time  in  which  conscience  must  and  will  be  heard  ;  and, 
too  often  for  the  happiness  of  surviving;  acqnaintances,  it  proclaims 
to  the  world,  that  the  grand  source  of  their  hatred  to  the  Bible  has 
been  that  for  which  Ahab  hated  Micniah — its  prophesyinji;  nogood 
<'oncernin!>;  them. 

The  scriptures  are  a  mirror  in  which  we  see  not  only  individual 
<:haracters,  our  own  anrl  others,  but  the  state  of  things  as  they 
move  on  in  the  great  world.  They  show  us  the  s[iring  head* 
whence  all  the  malignant  streams  of  idolatry,  atheism,  corruption, 
persecution,  war,  ond  of  every  other  evil  originate  ;  and,  by  show- 
ing us  the  origin  of  these  destructive  maladies,  clearly  instruct  us 
wherein   must  consist  their  euro. 

It  has  already  been  observed,*  that  Christian  morality  is  sum- 
med up  in  the  love  of  (lod  and  our  neighbour,  and  that  these  prin- 
ciples carried  to  their  full  extent,  would  render  the  world  a  para- 
dise. But  the  scriptures  teach  us  that  man  is  a  rebel  against  his 
Maker  ;  that  his  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,  and  is  not  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be  ;  that,  instead  of  lov- 
ing God,  or  even  man  in  the  order  which  is  required,  men  are  be- 
come/orers  q/"Mejr  oj^j/j  s^/yf**,  and  neither  God  nor  man  are  re- 
garded but  as  they  are  found  necessary  to  subserve  their  wishes. 

This  single  principle  of  human  depravity,  supposing  it  to  be 
true,  will  fully  account  for  all  the  moral  disorders  in  the  world  ; 
and  the  actual  existence  of  those  disorders,  unless  they  can  be  bet- 
ter accounted  for,  must  go  to  prove  the  truth  of  this  principle,  and 
by  consequence,  of  the  Christian  system  which  rests  upon  it. 

We  are  affected  in  considering  the  idolatry  of  so  great  a  part  of 
the  human  race  ;  hut  we  are  not  surprised  at  it.  If  men  be  desti- 
tute of  the  love  of  God,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  they  will  endeav- 
our to  banish  him  from  their  thoughts,  and,  provided  the  state  of 

-P.iTll  riinp  |[^ 


124  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  [Part  11 

society  will  admit  of  it,  from  their  worship  ;  substituting  gods  more 
congenial  with  their  inclinations,  and  in  the  worship  of  which  they 
can  indulge  themselves  without  fear  or  control. 

Neither  are  we  surprised  at  the  practical  atheism  which  abounds 
among  unbelievers,  and  even  among  nominal  Christians,  in  Euro- 
pean nations.  If  the  state  of  things  be  such  as  to  render  gross 
idolatry,  inadmissible,  still,  if  aversion  to  God  predominate,  it  will 
show  itself  in  a  neglect  of  all  worship,  and  of  all  serious  conversa- 
tion, or  devout  exercises  ;  in  a  wish  to  think  there  is  no  God,  and 
no  hereafter;  and  in  endeavours  to  banish  every  thing  of  a  religious 
nature  from  society.  Or,  if  this  cannot  be,  and  any  thing  relating 
to  such  subjects  become  matter  of  discussion,  they  will  be  so  ex- 
plained away  as  that  nothing  shall  be  left  which  can  approve  itself 
to  an  upright  heart.  The  holiness  of  the  divine  character  will  be 
kept  out  of  sight,  his  precepts  disregarded,  and  morality  itself 
made  to  consist  in  something  destitue  of  all  true  virtue. 

We  are  not  surprised  at  the  corruptions  which  Christianity  has 
undergone.  Christianity  itself,  as  we  have  already  seen,  foretold 
it ;  and  the  doctrine  of  human  depravity  fully  accounts  for  it- 
When  the  Christian  rehgion  was  adopted  by  the  state,  it  is  natural 
to  suppose  there  were  great  numbers  of  unprincipled  men  who 
professed  it;  and  where  its  leading  characters  in  any  age  are  of 
this  description,  it  will  certainly  be  corrupted.  The  pure  doctrine 
of  Christ  is  given  up  in  favour  of  some  flesh  pleasing  system,  the 
holy  precepts  of  Christian  morality  are  lowered  to  the  standard  of 
ordinary  practice,  and  the  worship  and  ordinances  of  Christ  are 
mingled  with  superstition  and  modelled  to  a  worldly  temper.  It 
was  thus  that  Judaism  was  corrupted  by  the  old  Pharisees,  and 
Christianity  by  the  Papal  hierarchy. 

The  success  with  which  evil  men  and  seducers  meet  in  propaga, 
ting  false  doctrine,  is  no  more  than,  from  the  present  state  of 
things  may  be  expected.  So  long  as  a  large  proportion  of  the  pro- 
fessors of  Christianity  receive  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  error  will 
be  certain  to  meet  with  a  welcome  reception.  The  grossest  im- 
postor has   only  to  advance  a  system  suited  to  corrupt  nature,  to 


Chapter  II. ]  SCRIPTURE  WITH  TRUTH.  125 

assert  it  with  effrontery,  and  to  (Litter  his  adherents  with  heing  the 
favourites  of  heaven,  and  he  will  be  followed.* 

The  persecutions  which  have  been  carried  on  against  re  ligion 
are  grievous  to  humanity,  and  equally  repugnant  to  justice  and 
to  good  policy:  but  they  are  not  in  the  least  surprising.  There 
was  not  a  truth  more  prominent  in  our  Saviour's  addresses  to  his 
followers  than  this,  that,  having  received  his  word,  the  world  would 
hate  them;  because  they  were  not  of  the  world,  as  he  was  not  of  the 
world.  When  he  sent  them  forth  to  preach  the  gospel,  it  was  as 
sheep  among  wolves;  and  they  were  treated  accordingly.  When 
he  took  leave  of  them,  previously  to  his  death,  he  left  them  his 
peace,  as  knowing  that,  in  the  world,  they  should  have  tribulation. 
All  this  was  no  more  than  might  be  expected  ;  for  if  it  be  the  char- 
acter of  true  religion  that  it  sets  itself  against  every  vicious  pro- 
pensity of  the  human  heart,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  every  one 
who  is  under  the  dominion  of  such  propensity  will  feel  averse  from 
true  religion,  and  from  those  who  adhere  to  it.  The  manner  in 
which  mankind  have  stood  affected  towards  godly  men  has  been 
nearly  uniform  from  the  beginning.  Cain  slew  his  brother.  And 
wherefore  slew  he  him  ?  because  his  own  works  were  evil,  and 
his  brother's  righteous.  Sarah  saw  the  son  of  Hagar  the  Egyptian, 
mocking:  as  he  that  was  born  after  the  flesh  then  persecuted  him 
that  was  born  after  the  Spirit,  even  so  it  is  now.  Why  was  Jeru- 
salem a  burdensome  stone  to  the  nations  ?  Why  were  they  con- 
tinually forming  leagues  to  root  out  its  remembrance  from  the 

•  Men  are  much  more  easily  deceived  iu  these  matters  than  in  the  ordinary- 
concerns  of  life.  If  a  London  Merchant  were  to  open  warehouses  in  different 
parts  of  the  city,  and  make  it  his  business  to  traduce  the  characters  and  com- 
modities of  all  other  merchants  ;  if  his  opposition  were  directed  especially 
against  men  of  probity  and  eminence,  whose  situations  were  contiguous  to  his 
own  ;  iu  fine,  if  the  only  traders  in  the  kingdom  who  could  obtain  his  good 
word  were  certain  agents  whom  he  had  stationed  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  for  the  purpose  of  retailinijhis  wares  ;  would  not  his  designs  be  evi- 
dent? He  might  puff,  and  pretend  to  have  the  good  of  the  public  much  at 
heart;  but  the  public  would  despise  him, as  a  man  whose  object  was  a  for. 
tunc,  and  whose  practices  cTinced  that  he  would  hesitate  at  no  means  to  ac- 
iiomplifh  hJF  eod.  Yet,  in  rplisfion;  "uch  deception?  maybe  practised  with 
succea«. 


126  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  [Part  11. 

earth  ?  The  same  spirit  that  was  discovered  by  Edom,  Moab, 
and  the  children  of  Ammon  towards  Israel,  was  apparent  in  San- 
ballat,  Tobiah,  Geshem,  and  their  companions,  towards  Judah;  and 
the  part  acted  of  the  Horonite,  the  Ammonite,  and  the  Arabian,  was 
afterwards  re-acted,  with  additional  zeal,  by  Herod  and  Pontius 
Pilate,  and  the  governors  and  people  of  Israel.  Those  who  could 
agree  in  nothing  else  could  agree  in  this.  The  persecutions  of 
pagan  and  papal  Rome,  and  of  all  who  have  symbolized  with  her, 
have  been  only  'a  continuation  of  the  same  system:  and  the  de- 
scriptions which  deistical  historians  give  of  these  works  of  dark- 
ness, notwithstanding  their  pretended  regard  to  religious  liberty, 
bear  witness  that  the}'  allow  the  deeds  of  their  fathers,  and  inherit 
their  dispositions.  The  same  malignant  spirit  which  was  discov- 
ered by  the  heathens  toward  the  ancient  Israelites,  is  discovera- 
ble in  all  the  writings  of  unbelievers  toward  that  people  to  this 
day.  It  is  true,  they  are  more  reconciled  to  the  modern  Jews; 
and  for  a  very  plain  reason:  they  feel  them  to  be  near  akin  to 
themselves.  Herod  and  Pilate  were  made  friends  by  the  cruci- 
fixion of  Christ.  Since  that  time,  the  old  enmity  has  been  trans- 
ferred to  believing  Gentiles,  who,  being  grafted  into  the  Jewish 
olive,  and  partaking  of  its  advantages,  partake  also  of  its  persecu- 
tions: and  by  how  much  the  Christian  church,  at  any  period,  has 
exceeded  the  Jewish  in  purity  and  spirituality,  by  so  much  more 
fierce  has  the  wrath  of  a  wicked  world  burned  against  it. 

After  all  the  pains  that  unbelievers  take  to  shift  the  charge  of 
persecution,  and  lay  it  at  the  door  of  Christianity,  it  is  manifest,  to 
an  observant  eye,  that  there  is  a  deep-rooted  enmity  in  all  wicked 
men,  whether  they  be  Pagans,  Papists,  Protestants,  or  Deists, 
towards  all  godly  men,  of  every  nation,  name,  and  denomination. 
This  enmity,  it  is  true,  is  not  suffered  to  operate  according  to  its 
native  tendency.  He  who  holdeth  the  winds  in  his  hands,  restrains 
it.  Men  are  withheld  by  laws,  by  policy,  by  interests,  by  educa- 
tion, by  respect,  by  regard  founded  on  qualities  distinct  from  reli- 
gious, and  by  various  other  things.  There  are  certain  conjunctions 
of  interests,  especially,  which  occasionally  require  a  temporaiy  ces- 
sation of  hostilities;  and  it  may  seem  on  such  occasions  as  if  wicked 
men  were  ashamed  of  their  animosities,  and  were  all  on  a  sudden 


Chaptkr  II.J  scripture  WITH  TRUTH.  127 

become  friendly  to  the  followers  of  Christ.  Thus,  at  the  revolu- 
tion in  1688,  those  who  for  more  than  twenty  years  bad  treated 
the  non-conformists  with  unrelenting  severity,  when  they  found 
themselves  in  dani^er  of  beiiii^  de[)rived  of  their  places  by  a  popish 
prince,  courted  their  friendship,  and  promised  not  to  persecute 
them  any  more.  And  thus,  at  the  coininencement  of  the  French 
revolution,  Deist?,  Catholics,  and  Protestants,  who  were  engaged 
in  one  political  cause,  seemed  to  have  forgotten  their  resentments, 
all  amicably  uniting  together  in  the  opening  of  a  place  for  protes- 
tant  worship.  But  let  not  the  servants  of  Christ  imagine  that  any 
temporary  conjunction  of  ioierests  will  extinguish  the  ancient  en- 
mity. It  may  seem  to  be  so  for  a  time;  and  all  things  bemg  under 
tiie  control  of  providence,  such  n  time  may  be  designed  as  a  season 
of  respite  for  the  faithful;  but  when  self-interest  has  gained  its 
end,  if  other  worldly  considerations  do  not  interpose,  things  will 
return  to  their  former  channel.  The  enmity  is  not  dead,  but 
sleepeth. 

Finally:  the  ivars  which,  from  the  earliest  period  of  history, 
have  desolated  the  earth,  grievous  as  Ihey  are  to  a  feeling  mind, 
contain  in  them  nothing  surprising.  The  scriptures,  with  singular 
propriety,  describe  the  world  as  a  great  sea,  which  is  ever  casting 
up  its  mire  and  dirt;  and  great  conquerors  as  so  many  ivild  beasts, 
which,  in  succession,  rise  from  its  troubled  waters,  and  devour 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.*  Nor  is  this  all  :  they  describe  not 
only  the  fact,  but  the  cause  of  it.  Wars  among  men,  as  has  been  al- 
rsady  stated,t  have  their  immediate  causes  in  the  lusts  which  war  in 
their  members:  but,  besides  this,  the  scripture  leads  us  to  a  cause 
more  remote,  and  of  still  greater  importance.  They  denominate  the 
sword  of  war,  the  sword  of  the  Lord,  and  constantly  intimate  that 
it  is  one  of  those  means  by  which  he  pleadeih  with  all  Jlesh.  A 
part  of  the  curse  entailed  on  men  for  their  de[»arture  from  the  liv- 
ing God,  consists  in  this,  that,  till  tliey  return  to  him,  they  shall 
not  be  able  for  any  length  of  time,  to  maiiilain  amity  among  them- 
selves. It  appears  to  be  one  of  those  laws  by  which  God  governs 
the  world,   that,   PEOfLK   e.ncaged  in  an   evil  cacse,   HOWEVEr 

"Dan.vii.  t  PaWl.Chiip  Vir 


^ 


128  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  [Part  IL 

HARMONIOUS  THEV   MAY  BE  IN  THE  OUTSET,  SHALL  PRESENTLY  BEAT 

VARIANCE.  Thus  it  was  between  Abimilech  and  the  men  of  She- 
chem,  as  Jotham  had  forewarned  them  in  his  parable.  Though  at 
first  they  appeared  to  rejoice  in  each  other;  yet,  in  a  little  time, 
Jire  came  out  from  Abimelech,  and  devoiiredthe  men  of  Shechem^  and 
fire  came  out  from  the  men  of  Shechem,  and  devoured  Abimelech,* 
Such  is  commonly  the  issue  of  all  unprincipled  confederacies, 
traitorous  conspiracies,  illegal  combinations,  and  illicit  amours. 
Union,  in  order  to  be  lasting,  requires  to  be  cemented  with  honor. 
Where  this  is  wanting,  however  appearances  may  for  a  while  be 
flattering,  all  will  prove  transitory:  mutual  jealousies  will  produce 
mutual  enmities,  which  are  certain  to  issue  in  confusion  and  every 
evil  work.  These  remarks  are  no  less  applicable  to  the  whole 
human  race,  than  to  particular  parts  of  it.  Men  have  revolted 
from  God;  and  yet  think  to  live  in  harmony  among  themselves. 
God,  in  just  judgment,  appears  to  have  determined  the  contrary; 
and  that,  till  they  return  to  him,  they  shall  be  given  up  to  an  evil 
spirit  towards  each  other,  and  to  the  ravages  of  a  succession  of  am- 
bitious leaders,  who  shall  destroy  them  in  great  numbers  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  It  is  morally  impossible,  indeed,  that  it  should 
be  otherwise;  for  the  same  principle  which  induces  them  to  re- 
nounce the  divine  goverment,  dissolves  the  bands  of  human  soci- 
ety. Supreme  self-love  is  the  origin  of  both,  and  is  sufficient  to 
account  for  all  the  disorder  in  the  universe. 

Candid  reader,  review  the  subject  of  this  chapter.  In  the  last, 
we  traced  the  agreement  of  the  holy  scriptures  with  historic  fact ; 
in  this,  we  have  seen  their  correspondence  with  living  truth,  or 
with  things  as  they  actually  exist,  in  the  mind  and  in  the  world. 
Similar  arguments  might  also  have  been  drawn  from  the  characters 
of  believers  and  unbelievers.  Not  many  wise,  not  many  mighty,  not 
many  noble  were  called  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity  ;  and  it  has 
been  the  same  in  every  age.  To  the  Jews  the  gospel  was  from  the 
first  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  philosophers  foolishness  ;  and  such 
it  continues  to  this  day.  The  existence  of  the  Jews  as  a  distinct  peo- 
ple, their  dispersion,  their  attachment  to  the  Old  Testament,  and 

*  Judges  ix. 


Chapter  II.]  SCniPTUIlF.  WITH  TRUTH.  |<29 

rejection  uC  llie  New,  their  expectation  of  a  Messiah,  their 
acknowledgment  of  the  truth  ol  the  historical  facts  concerning 
our  Lord,  the  malignit)'  of  their  spirit ;  in  a  word,  their  exact 
resemblance,  even  at  this  remote  period,  to  the  picture  drawn  of 
them  in  the  New  Testament,  arc  tacts  which  cannot  be  contro- 
verted. Judge  impartially  :  Is  there  any  thing  in  all  this  that 
bears  the  marks  of  impo.sture  ?  A  connoisseur  will  distinguish 
between  paintings  taken  from  life,  and  such  as  are  the  works  of 
mere  imagination.  An  accurate  judge  of  moral  painting  will  do  the 
same.  If  the  scriptures  gave  false  description?  of  men  and  things, 
if  tliey  flattered  the  vices  of  mankind,  or  exhibited  the  moral  state 
of  the  world  contrary  to  well-known  fact,  you  would  conclude 
them  to  be  a  work  of  falsehood.  On  the  other  hand,  if  they  speak 
of  things  as  they  are  ;  if  conscience  echo  to  their  charges,  and  fact 
comport  with  their  representations,  they  must  have  been  taken 
from  life  :  and  you  must  conclude  them  to  be  what  they  profess 
to  be — a  work  of  truth.  And,  since  the  objects  described  are 
many  of  them  beyond  the  ken  of  human  observation,  you  must 
conclude  that  they  are  not  only  a  work  of  truth,  but.  what  they 
also  profess  to  be — The  true  sayings  of  God. 


Vol..   Ill  17 


CHAPTER  III. 


IHK  HAK.MU.W    OF   SCRIPTURt   WITH   ITS  OWN    PROFESSIONS,    ARCUF.I' 
FROM  THE  SPIRIT  AND  STYLE  IN  WHICH  IT  IS    WRITTEN. 


If  the  scriptures  be  what  they  profess  to  be — the  word  of  God  . 
it  may  be  presumed  that  the  spirit  which  they  breathe,  and  even 
the  style  in  which  they  are  composed,  will  be  different  from  what 
can  be  found  in  any  other  productions.  It  is  true,  that,  having 
been  communicated  through  human  mediums,  we  may  expect  them, 
in  a  measure,  to  be  humanized  ;  the  peculiar  turn  and  talents  of 
each  writer  \vill  be  visible,  and  this  will  give  them  the  character 
of  variety  ;  but,  amidst  all  this  variety,  a  mind  capable  of  discern- 
ing the  divine  excellence  will  plainly  perceive  in  them  the  finger 
of  God. 

With  respect  to  slyle,  though  it  is  not  on  the  natural,  but  the 
moral,  or  rather  the  holy  beauties  of  scripture  that  I  would  lay  the 
principal  stress  ;  yet  something  may  be  observed  of  the  other. 
So  far  as  the  beauty  of  language  consists  in  its  freedom  from  affec- 
tation, and  ill  its  conformity  to  the  nature  of  the  subject,  it  may  be 
expected  that  a  book  written  by  holy  men.  inspired  of  God,  will 
be  possessed  of  this  excellence.  A  divinely-inspired  production 
will  not  only  be  free  from  such  blemishes  as  arise  from  vanity,  and 
other  evil  dispositions  of  the  mind,  but  will  abound  in  those  beau- 
ties which  never  fail  to  attend  the  genuine  exercises  of  modesty, 
■sensibility,  and  godly  simplicity.  It  will  reject  the  meretricious 
ornaments  of  art  ;  but  it  will  possess  the  more  substantial  beauties 
of  nature.  That  this  is  true  of  the  scriptures  has  been  proved  by 
several  able  writers.* 

•  See  Blackwall's  Sucred  Classicks.  AUo  Melmoth'a  Sublime  aad  Beauti- 
ful of  scripture  ;  to  wliicU  is  added,  Dwight's  DissertatioQ  on  the  Poetry,  Hil- 
tory,  and  Eloquence  of  tlip  Bible. 


132  THE  SPIRIl   AND  STYLE  [Part  II. 

Mr.  Paine,  however,  can  see  nothing  great,  majestic,  or  worthy 
of  God,  in  any  part  of  the  Bible.  Among  the  numerous  terms  of 
reproach  with  which  he  honours  it,  he  is  pleased  to  censure  the 
writings  of  Isaiah  as  "  bombast,  beneath  the  genius  of  a  school- 
boy ;"  and  to  compare  tlie  command  of  the  great  Creator,  in  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis,  Let  there  be  light,  to  the  "  imperative 
manner  of  speaking  used  by  a  conjuror."*  This  writer  has  given 
us  no  example  of  the  bombast  from  Isaiah.  Bombast  is  that  spe- 
cies of  writing  in  which  great  swelling  words  are  used  to  convey 
little  ideas.  But  is  it  thus  in  the  writings  of  Isaiah  ?  And  one 
cried  unto  another,  and  said,  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts ; 
the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory. — IVho  hath  measured  the  waters 
in  the  hollozv  of  his  hand,  and  meted  out  heaven  with  the  span,  and 
comprehended  the  dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and  weighed  the 
mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a  balance  ?  Who  hath  directed 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  or  being  his  counsellor,  hath  taught  him? 
With  whom  took  he  counsel,  and  zvho  instructed  him,  and  taught  him 
in  the  path  of  judgment,  and  taught  him  knowledge,  and  showed  to 
him  the  way  of  understanding?  Behold,  the  nations  are  as  a  drop 
of  a  bucket,  and  are  counted  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance  :  be- 
hold, he  taketh  up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing.  And  Lebanon  is 
not  sufficient  to  burn,  nor  the  beasts  thereof  sufficient  for  a  burnt- 
(ffering.  All  nations  before  him  are  as  liotliing ;  and  they  are 
counted  to  him  less  than  nothing  and  vanity.  Are  the  ideas  too  lit- 
tle, in  these  instances,  for  the  words  ?  The  prophets  wrote  in  a 
poetic  style  ;  and  how  could  they  write  otherwise  ?  Poetry  is 
the  language  of  passion  ;  and  such  as  theirs,  of  passion  raised  and 
inflamed  by  great  and  affecting  objects.  Their  language  is  not 
that  of  common  poetry,  but,  as  an  elegant  writer  expresses  it,  "  It 
is  the  burst  of  inspiration." 

As  to  the  objection  against  the  sublimity  of  the  passage  in  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis,  it  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that  there  is 
nothing,  be  it  ever  so  majestic  and  worthy  of  God,  but  a  profane 
and  ludicrous  imagination  may  distort  it.  A  rainbow  may  be  com- 
pared to  a  fiddle-stick  ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is   an  object 

*  Ageof  Reason,  Par/ II.  p.  lOS.  Note. 


CHAPTER  ill.  I  Oy  SCIUPTURL.  jjvj 

of  equal  insignificance.  Thunder  and  lightning  may  be  imitated 
by  a  character  not  less  contemptible  than  a  conjuror;  but  should 
anv  one  infer  that  there  is  nothing  more  grand,  more  awful,  or 
more  worthy  of  God,  in  these  displays  of  nature,  than  in  the  ex- 
hibitions of  a  country  show,  he  would  prove  himself  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  but  a  small  portion  of  either  wit  or  good  sense. 

1  do  not  pretend  to  any  grciit  judgment  in  the  beauties  of  com- 
position :  but  there  are  persons  of  far  superior  judgment  to  this 
»vriter  who  have  expressed  themselves  in  a  very  ditTerent  lan- 
guage. The  late  .Sir  Wm.  Jones,  who  for  learning  and  taste,  as 
well  as  character,  has  left  but  few  equals,  thus  expresses  himself: 
"  1  have  regularly  and  attentively  read  these  Holy  Scriptures,  and 
am  of  opinion  that  this  volume,  independent  of  its  divine  origin, 
contains  more  sublimity  and  beauty,  more  pure  morality,  more 
important  history,  and  finer  strains  of  poetry  and  eloquence,  than 
can  be  collected  from  all  other  books,  in  whatever  age  or  language 
they  may  have  been  composed." 

The  acknowledgments  of  Rousseau,  likewise,  whose  taste 
for  fine  writing,  and  whose  freedom  from  prejudice  in  favour  of 
Christianity,  none  will  call  in  que.<5tion,  will  serve  to  confront  the 
assertions  of  Mr.  Paine.  After  declaring  that  as  there  were  some 
proofs  in  favour  of  Revelation  which  he  could  not  invalidate,  so 
there  were  many  objections  against  it  which  he  could  not  resolve; 
that  he  neither  admitted,  nor  rejected  it;  and  that  he  rejected  only 
the  obligation  of  submitting  to  it  ;  he  goes  on  to  acknowledge  as 
follows  :  "  I  will  confess  to  you  farther,  that  the  majesty  of  the 
scripture  strikes  me  with  admiration,  as  the  purity  of  the 
gospel  hath  its  influence  on  my  heart.  Peruse  the  works  of  our 
philosophers,  with  all  their  pomp  of  diction — how  mean — ho« 
contemptible — are  they,  compared  with  the  scripture  !  Is  it  pos- 
sible, that  a  book  at  once  so  simple  and  sublime,  should  be  merely 
llie  work  of  man  ?  Is  it  possible  that  the  sacred  personage  whose 
history  it  contains  should  be  himself  a  mere  man  ?  Do  we  find 
that  he  assumed  the  air  of  an  enthusiast  or  ambitious  sectary  ? 
What  sweetness,  what  purity  in  his  manner  !  What  an  afiecting 
gracefulness  in  his  delivery  !  What  sublimity  in  his  maxims  *. 
What  profound  wisdom    in   his  discourse* !     What  presence  of 


134  THE  SPIRIT  AND  STYLE  fPARX  11. 

mind  !  What  subtilty  !  What  truth  in  his  replies  !  How  great  the 
command  over  his  passions  !  Where  is  the  man,  where  the  phi- 
losopher, who  could  so  live  and  die,  without  weakness,  and  without 
ostentation  ?— Shall  we  suppose  the  Evangelic  History  a  mere  fic- 
tion? Indeed,  my  friend,  it  bears  not  the  marks  of  fiction.  Oa 
the  contrary,  the  history  of  Socrates,  which  nobody  presumes  to 
doubt,  is  not  so  well  attested  as  that  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Jewish 
authors  were  incapable  of  the  diction,  and  strangers  to  the  morality 
contained  in  the  Gospels  ;  the  marks  of  whose  truth  are  so  strik- 
ing and  invincible,  that  the  inventor  would  be  a  more  astonishing 
character  than  the  hero.''* 

Rousseau's  praises  of  the  scripture  remind  us  ofthe  high  enco- 
miums bestowed  by  Balaam  on  the  tabernacles  of  Israel.  It  is  no 
unusual  thing  for  men  to  admire  that  which  they  do  not  love. 

Let  us  examine  a  little  more  minutely  the  spirit  in  which  the 
scriptures  are  written.  It  is  this  which  constitutes  their  holy 
beauty,  distingnishes  them  from  all  other  writings,  and  affords 
the  strongest  evidence  of  their  being  written  by  inspiration  of 
God. 

In  recording  historical  events,  the  sacred  writers  invariably  eye 
the  hand  of  God:  in  some  instances  they  entirely  overlook  second 
causes  ;  and  in  others,  where  they  are  mentioned,  it  is  only  as  in- 
struments fulfilling  the  divine  will.  Events  that  came  to  pass  ac- 
cording to  the  usual  course  of  things,  and  in  which  an  ordinary 
historian  would  have  seen  nothing  divine,  are  recorded  by  them 
among  the  works  of  the  Lord :  The  Lord  teas  very  angry  with  Is- 
rael, and  romoved  them  out  of  his  sight. — Jlnd  the  Lord  sent  against 
Jehoiakim  bands  of  the  Chaldees,  and  bands  of  the  Syrians,  and 
bands  of  the  Moabites,  and  bands  of  the  children  of  Amnion,  and 
sent  them  against  Judah  to  destroy  it,  according  to  the  word  of  the 
Lord  which  he  spake  by  his  servants  the  prophets.  Surely  at  the 
commandment  of  the  Lord  came  this  upon  Judah,  to  remove  them 
out  of  his  sight  for  the  sins  of  Manasseh  according  to  all  that  he 

*  Works,  Vol.  V.  pp.  215— 21B. 


Chapter  in.]  OF  SCRIPTURE.  I35 

did;  and  also  for  the  innocent  blood  that  he  shed,  {for  he  filled  Je- 
rusalem with  innocent  blood,)  which  the  Lord  would  not  pardon.* 

In  their  prophecies,  wliile  they  Joreloltl  the  heaviest  cahimitie? 
upon  nations,  their  own  .-iiul  others,  and  viewing  the  hand  of  God 
in  all.  acquiesced  in  them  ;  as  men  they  felt  tenderly  for  their  fel- 
low-creatures, even  tor  their  enemies:  My  bowels,  my  bowels !  I 
am  pained  at  my  very  heart ;  my  heart  niaketh  a  noise  in  me  ;  I  can- 
not hold  my  pence,  because  thou  host  heard,  O  my  soul,  the  sound  oj 
the  trumpet,  the  alarm  of  zcar. — 0  thou  sword  of  the  Lord,  how  long 
toiliit  be  ere  thou  be  quiet  ?  Put  thyself  into  thy  scabbard,  rest,  and 
be  still. ^  When  Israel  was  exposed  to  calamities,  all  the  neigh- 
bouring nations,  who  haled  them  on  account  of  their  religion,  ex- 
ulted over  them,  the  prophets  who  foretold  it  were  tenderly  af. 
fected  by  it  :  /  tcwV/  bewail  with  the  weeping  of  Jazer  the  vine  of 
Sibtnah  :  I  will  water  thee  with  my  tears,  O  Heshhon,  and  Elealehi 
for  the  shouting  for  thy  summer-fruits,  and  for  thy  harvest,  is  fat- 
en.  And  gladness  is  taken  away,  and  joy  out  of  the  plentiful  field ; 
and  in  the  vineyards  there  shall  be  no  singiiig,  neither  shall  there  be 
shouting  :  the  traders  shall  tread  out  no  wine  in  their  presses  :  I  have 
made  shouting  to  cease.  Wherefore  my  bowels  shall  sound  like  an 
harp  for  Moab,  and  mine  inward  parts  for  Kirharesh.* 

The  miracles  which  they  record  are  distinguished  from  the 
signs  and  lying  wonders  of  following  ages,  in  that  there  is  always 
to  be  seen  in  them  an  end  worthy  of  God.  The  far  greater  part  of 
tbem  were  works  of  pure  compassion  to  the  parties,  and  the  whole 
of  them  of  benevolence  to  society. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  scriptures  adapted  to  gratify /^resMm/*^?^- 
ous  speculation  or  idle  curiosity.  Such  a  spirit,  on  the  contrary, 
is  frequently  checked,  and  every  thing  is  directed  to  the  renova- 
tion or  improvement  of  the  heart.  The  account  given  of  the 
creation  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  is  not  intended,  as  Mr.  Henry 
observes,  to  describe  things  "  as  they  are  in  themselves,  and  in 
their  own  nature,  to  satisfy  the  curious  ;  but  as  they  are  in  rela- 
tion to  this  earth,  to  which  they  serve  as  lights  ;  and  this  is  enough 

*  2  Kin»s  xTii.   l!i.  xxiv.  2 — 4. 
t  Jer.  iv.  19.  xlvii.  6.  t  If>a.  xvi.  9 — 11. 


136  THE  SPIRIT  AND  STYLE  [Part  If. 

to  furnish  us  with  matter  for  praise  and  thanksgiving."  The  mir- 
acles  of  Jesus  were  never  performed  to  gratify  curiosity.  If  the 
afflicted,  or  any  on  their  behalf,  present  their  petition,  it  is  invari- 
ably heard  and  answered  ;  but  if  the  Pharisees  come  and  say, 
Master,  we  would  see  a  sign  from  thee  ;  or  if  Herod  hope  to  see  a 
miracle  done  by  him^  it  is  refused.*  When  one  said  to  him.  Lord 
are  there  few  that  be  saved?  he  answered.  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate :  for  many,  I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall 
not  he  afc/e.t 

T!iere  is  nothing  in  the  scriptures  tending,  in  its  own  nature,  to 
excite  levity  or  folly.  They  sometimes  deal  in  the  most  cutting 
irony  ;  but  it  is  never  for  the  sake  of  displaying  wit,  or  raising  a 
laugh,  but  invariably  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  serious  and 
important  end.  A  serious  mind  finds  every  thing  to  gratify  it,  and 
nothing  to  offend  it :  and  even  the  most  profligate  character,  unless 
he  read  them  in  search  of  something  which  he  may  convert  into 
ridicule,  is  impressed  with  awe  by  the  pointed  and  solemn  manner 
in  which  they  address  him. 

It  may  be  said  of  the  scriptures,  and  of  them  only,  that  they  are 
free  from  affectation  and  vanity.  You  may  sometimes  find  things 
of  this  sort  described  by  the  sacred  writers  ;  but  you  will  never 
discern  any  such  spirit  in  the  descriptions  themselves.  Yet,  as 
men,  they  were  subject  to  human  imperfections  :  if,  therefore, 
they  had  not  been  influenced  by  divine  inspiration,  blemishes  of 
this  kind  must  have  appeared  in  their  writings,  as  well  in  those  of 
other  men.  But  in  what  instance  have  they  assumed  a  character 
which  does  not  belong  to  them  ;  or  discovered  a  wish  to  be  thought 
more  religious,  more  learned,  or  more  accomplished  in  any  way 
than  they  were  ?  Nor  were  they  less  free  from  vanity  than  from 
affectation.  They  were  as  far  from  making  the  most  of  what  they 
were,  as  from  aiming  to  appear  what  they  were  not.  Instead  of 
trumpeting  their  own  praise,  or  aiming  to  transmit  their  fame  to 
posterity,  several  of  them  have  not  so  much  as  put  their  names  to 
their  writings  ;  and  those  who  have,  are  generally  out  of  sight. 
As  you  read  their  history,  they  seldom  occur  to  your  thoughts, 

*  Matt,  xii.38.   Luke  xxiii.  8,  9.     t  Luke  xiii.  24.  See  also  xxi.  5—19, 


OiiAPTKR  111.)  OF  SCKIl'TURK.  I37 

Who  thinks  of  the  Evangelists  uhcn  reading  the /our  Gospels  ;  or 
of  Luke  while  reading  the  Acts  of  the  Jpostles  ?  Mr.  Paine  weaves 
the  laurel  on  his  own  brows,  vainly  boasting  that  he  has  "written 
a  book  under  the  greatest  disadvantages,  which  no  Bible  believer 
can  answer  ;"  and  that,  with  his  axe  upon  his  shoulder,  like  anoth- 
er Sennacherib,  he  has  passed  through,  and  cut  down  the  tall 
cedars  of  our  Lebanon.*  Hut  thus  did  not  the  sacred  writers, 
even  with  regard  to  heathenism,  because  of  the  fear  of  God. 
Paul  in  one  instance,  for  the  sake  of  answering  an  important  end, 
was  compelled  to  speak  the  truth  of  himself,  and  to  appear  to 
boast ;  yet  it  is  easy  to  perceive  how  much  it  was  against  his 
inclination.  A  6o<ii/er  and  a /oo/  were,  in  his  account,  synony- 
mous terms.! 

The  sacred  writers,  while  they  respect  magistracy,  and  frown 
upon  faction,  tumult,  and  sedition,  am  never  kno-um  to  Jiatter  the 
great.  Compare  the  fustian  eloquence  of  Tertullus  with  the 
manly  speeches  of  Paul.  Did  he  flatter  F'elix  ?  No;  he  reasoned 
of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment  to  come;  and  Felix 
trembled.  Did  he  flatter  Festus  or  even  Agrippa?  No;  the 
highest  compliment  which  proceeded  from  him  was,  that  he  knew 
the  lattter  to  be  expert  in  all  customs  and  questions  among  the  Jews, 
and  to  maintain  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  prophets;  which  dec- 
laration, with  the  whole  of  this  admirable  apology,  contained  only 
the  words  of  truth  and  soberness. 

They  discover  no  anxiety  to  guard  against  seeming  inconsisten- 
cies, either  with  thenxselves  or  one  another.  In  works  of  impos 
ture,  especially  where  a  number  of  persons  are  concerned, 
there  is  need  of  great  care  and  caution,  lest  one  part  should  contra 
diet  another  ;  and  such  caution  is  easily  perceived.  But  the  sacred 
writers  appear  to  have  had  no  such  concern  about  them.  Con- 
scious that  all  they  wrote  was  true,  they  left  it  to  prove  it^  own 
consistency.  Their  productions  possess  consistency  ;  but  it  is  not 
a  studied  one,  nor  always  apparent  at  first  sight :  it  is  that  consist- 
ency which  IS  certain  to  accompany  truth. :j: 

*   Age  of  Reason,  Part  11.  Preface,  p.  vi.  aud  p.  64.         t  2  Cor.  xii. 

X  "  There  ia  one  argument,"  says  Mr.  WiUierforce,  in  liis  late  excellent 
Treatise,  "  which  impresses  my  mind  with  particular  force.     This  is  the  ijroat 
Vol   III.  18 


138  THE  SPIRIT  AND  STYLE  [I'art  U. 

There  is  an  inimitable  simplicity  in  all  their  writings,  and  a  feel- 
ing sense  of  what  they  write.  They  come  to  the  point  without 
ceremony  or  preamble,  and  having  told  the  truth,  leave  it  without 
mingling  their  own  reflections.  This  remark  is  particularly  exem- 
plified by  the  four  Evangelists,  in  narrating  the  treatment  of  their 
Lord.     Writers  who  had  fell  less  would  have  said  more. 

There  is  something  in  all  they  say  which  leaves  behind  it  a  sen- 
sation produced  by  no  other  writings  ;  something  peculiarly  suited 
to  the  mind  when  in  its  most  serious  frames,  oppressed  by  affliction, 
or  thoughtful  about  a  future  life  ;  something  which  gives  melan- 
choly itself  a  charm,  and  produces  tears  more  delicious  to  the 
mind  than  the  most  high -flavoured  earthly  enjoyments.  By  what 
name  shall  I  express  it  ?  It  is  a  savour  of  life,  a  savour  of  Ghd,  an 
unction  from  the  Holy  One. 

variety  of  the  kinds  of  evidence  which  have  been  adduced  in  proof  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  confirmation  thereby  afforded  of  its  truth: — the  proof  fro.ii 
prophecy — from  miracles — frotn  the  character  of  Christ — from  that  of  his 
apostles — from  the  nature  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity — fVom  the  nature 
and  excellence  of  her  practical  precepts — from  the  accordance  we  have  lately 
pointed  out  between  the  doctrinal  and  practical  system  of  Christianity, 
•whether  considered  each  in  ilself,  or  in  their  mutual  relation  to  each  other — 
from  other  species  of  internal  evidence,  afforded  in  the  more  abundance  as  the 
sacred  records  have  been  scrutinized  with  great  care — from  the  accounts  of 
cotemporary,  or  nearly  cotemporary  writers — from  the  impossibility  of 
accounting  on  any  other  supposition  than  that  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  for 
its  promulgation,  and  early  prevalence  :  these  and  other  lines  of  argument 
have  all  been  brought  forward,  and  urged  by  different  writers,  in  proportion 
as  they  have  struck  the  minds  of  different  observers  more  or  less  forcibly. 
Now,  granting  that  some  obscure  and  obliterate  men,  residing  in  a  distant  prov- 
ince of  the  Roman  empire,  had  plotted  to  impose  a  forgery  upon  the  world  ; 
though  some  foundation  for  the  imposture  might,  and  indeed  must,  have  been 
attempted  to  be  laid  ;  it  seems,  at  least  to  my  understanding,  ^morally  impos- 
sible that  so  many  species  of  proofs,  and  all  so  strong,  should  have  lent  their 
concurrent  aid,  and  have  united  their  joint  force,  in  the  establishment  of  the 
falsehood.  It  may  assist  the  reader  in  estimating  the  value  of  this  argument, 
to  consider  upon  how  different  a  footing,  in  this  respect,  has  rested  every 
other  religious  system,  without  exception,  which  was  ever  proposed  to  the 
world  ;  and  indeed  every  other  historical  fact,  of  which  the  truth  has  been  at 
all  contested."* 

*  Practical  View,  Sic.  pp.  361—368.     Third  Edition 


Chapter  HJ.]  OF  SCRIPTURE.  j  ^q 

Mr.  Paine  can  see  no  beauty  in  (he  New-testament  narratives  : 
fo  hini  there   appears  nothing  but  imposture,  folly,   contradiction, 
fuhckood,  and  every  thing  that  marks  an  evil  cause.     Anil  1  sup- 
pose he  could  say  the  same  of  the  things  narrated  ;  of  the  labours, 
tears,  temptations,  and  suflerings  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  of  erery 
thing  elrie  in  the  New  Testament.     Mr.  Paine,  however,  is  not  the 
only    instance    wherein    men   have    lacked   understanding.     The 
.Fews  saw  no  beauty  in  the  Saviour  that  they  should  desire  him  : 
and  there  are  persons  who  can  see  no  beauty  in  any  of  the  works 
of  God.     Creation  is  to  them  a  blank.     But  though  the  eyes  of  a 
fool  are  at  the  ends  of  the  earth,  for  want  of  objects  to  attract  them, 
yet  nisdom  is  before  him  that  vnderstandeth.      If  Mr.  Paine  can  see 
no  beauty  in  the  sacred  |)ages,  it  does  not  follow  that  there  is  no 
beauty  to  be  seen.     Let  any  person  of  candour  and  discernment 
read  over  the  four  Evangelists   and  judge  whether  they  bear  the 
marks  of  imj^osture.     If  he  have  any  difficulty,  it  will  be  in  pre- 
serving the  character  of  a  critic.     Unless  he  be  perpetually  on  his 
guard,  he  will  insensibly  lose  sight  of  the  writers,  and  be  all  enam- 
oured of  the  great  object  concerning  which  they  write.  In  reading 
the  last  nine  chapters  of  .John,  he  will  perceive  the  writer  to  be 
deeply  afl'erted.     Though  a  longtime  had  elapsed  since  the  events 
had  taken  place,  and  he  was  far  advanced  in  years  ;  yet  his  heart 
was  manifestly  overwhelmed  with  his  subject.     There  is  reason 
to  think  that  the  things  which  Mr.  Paine  attempts  to  ridicule,  drew 
tears  from  his  eyes  while  he  narrated  them  ;  as  an  ingenious  mind 
will  find   it  difticult  to  review  tlie   narrative   without  similar  sen- 
sations. 

Mr.  Paino  is  pleased  to  say,  "  Any  person  that  could  read  and 
write  might  have  written  such  a  book  as  the  Bible  :"  but  nothing 
can  be  farther  from  the  truth.  It  were  saying  but  little,  to  affirm 
that  he  could  not  produce  a  single  page  or  sentence  that  would 
have  a  similar  effect.  Stranger  as  he  has  proved  himself  to  be  to 
the  love  of  God  and  riehteousness,  he  could  not  communicate  what 
he  does  not  feel.  The  croaking  raven  might  as  well  endeavour  to 
imitate  the  voice  of  the  dove,  or  the  song  of  the  nightingale,  as  he 
attempt  to  emulate  the  holy  scriptures.  Mr.  Paine's  spirit  is  suf- 
ticiently  apparent  in  his  page,  and  that  of  the  sacred  writers  in 


140  THE  SPIRIT  AND  STYLE  [Part  II. 

theirs.  So  far  from  writing  as  they  wrote,  he  cannot  understand 
their  writings.  That  which  the  scriptures  teach  on  this  subject  is 
sufficiently  verified  in  hira,  and  all  others  of  his  spirit  :  The  nat- 
ural man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  neither  can 
he  know  them,  for  they  are  spiritually  discerned.  As  easily  might 
the  loveliness  of  chastity  be  perceived,  or  the  pleasures  of  a  good 
conscience  appreciated,  by  a  debauchee,  as  the  things  of  God  be 
received  by  a  mind  like  that  of  Mr.  Paine. 

Finally  :  If  the  Bible  be  the  word  of  God,  it  may  be  expected 
that  such  an  authority  and  divine  sanction  should  accompany  it, 
that,  while  a  candid  mind  shall  presently  perceive  its  evidence, 
those  who  read  it  either  with  negligence  or  prejudice,  shall  only 
be  confirmed  in  their  unbelief     It  is  fit  that  God's  word  should 
not  be  trifled  with.     When  the  Pharisees  captiously  demanded  a 
sign,  or  miracle,  they  were  sent  away  without  one.     They  might 
go  if  they  pleased,  and  report  the  inability  of  Jesus  to  work  a  mir- 
acle.    The  evidence  attending  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  of  this 
description.     He  had  exhibited  proofs  of  his  divine  mission  pub- 
licly, and  before  the  eyes  of  all  men  ;  but,  seeing  they  were  ob- 
stinately rejected,  he  told  his  enemies  that  they  should  see  him  no 
more  till  he  should  come  on  a  different  occasion  :*  and  they  saw 
him  no  more.     They  might  insist,  if  they  pleased,  that  the  testi- 
mony of  his  disciples,  who  witnessed  his  resurrection,  was  insuf- 
ficient.    It  is  thus  that  heresies,  offences,  and  scandals  are  per- 
mitted in  the  Christian  church  ;  that  they  who  are  approved  may 
be  made  manifest ;  and  that  occasion  may  be  furnished  for  them 
who  seek  occasion,  to  reproach  religion  and  persist  in  their  unbe- 
lief    If  men  choose  delusion,  God  also  will  choose  to  give  them 
up  to  it.     The  scorner  shall  seek  wisdom  and  shall  not  find  it ;  and 
the  word  of  life  shall  be  a  savour  of  death  unto  death  to  them  that 
perish.     Mr.  Paine,  when  he  wrote  the  First  Part  of  his  Age  of 
Reason,  was  without  a  Bible.     Afterwards,  he  tells  us,  us  he  pro- 
cured one  ;  or  to  use  his  own  schoolboy  language,  "■  .t  Bible  and  a 
Testament ;  and  I  have  found  them,"  he  adds,  "  to  be  much  worse 
books  than  I  had  conceived.''!     In  all  this  there  is  nothing  sur 

*  Malt,  xxiii.  39.  +  Age  of  Reasou,  Pari  II.  Preface,  p.  xii 


Chapter  III.]  OF  SCRIPTURE.  I4I 

prising.     On  the  contrary,  if  such  a  scorner  had  found  wisdom,  the 
scriptures  themselves  had  not  been  fulfilled.* 

If  an  insolent  coxcomb  had  been  of  opinion  that  Sir  Isaac  Nevr- 
tun  was  a  mere  ignoramus  in  philosophy,  and  had  gone  into  his 
company  that  he  might  catechise,  and  afterwards,  as  occasion 
should  offer,  expose  him;  it  is  not  unlikely  that  this  great  writer, 
perceiving  his  arrogance,  would  have  suffered  him  to  depart  with- 
out answering  his  questions,  even  though  he  might  know  at  the 
time  that  his  unfavorable  opinion  of  him  would  thereby  be  the 
more  confirmed.  Let  us  but  come  to  the  scriptures  in  a  proper 
spirit,  and  we  shall  know  of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God  : 
but  if  wc  approach  them  in  a  cavilling  humour,  we  may  expect  not 
only  to  remain  in  ignorance,  but  to  be  hardened  more  and  more  iu 
iinbeliof 

'  Pror.  xiv.  C 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THFCONMSTF.N'CY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTIIINE.  PARTICULARLY  THAT 
OP  SALVATION   THROUUII    A   MKDIATOK,    WITH  SOBER  REASON. 


If  there  be  a  God  who  created  us;  if  we  have  all  sinned  against 
him;  and  if  there  be  rea-son  to  believe  that  he  will  call  us  to  ac- 
count for  our  conduct;  all  which  principles  are  admitted  by  Mr. 
Paine;*  a  gloomy  prospect  must  needs  present  itself,  sufficient 
indeed  to  render  man  "  the  slave  of  terror."  It  is  not  in  the  pow- 
er of  this  writer,  nor  of  any  man  living  who  rejects  the  Bible,  to 
assure  us  that  pardon  will  have  any  place  in  the  divine  2;overn- 
ment;  and,  however  light  he  may  make  of  the  scripture  doctrine 
of  hell,  lie  that  calls  men  to  account  for  their  deeds,  will  be  at  no 
loss  how  or  where  to  punish  them.  But,  allowing  that  God  is  dis- 
posed to  show  mercy  to  the  guilty,  the  question  is,  Whether  his 
doing  so  by  or  without  a  mediator,  be  most  consistent  with  what 
we  know  of  fitness  or  propriety  ? 

That  pardon  is  bestowed  through  a  mediator  in  a  vast  variety  of 
instances  among  men,  cannot  be  denied;  and  that  it  is  proper  it 
should  be  so,  must  be  evident  to  every  thinking  mind.  All  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  common  affairs  of  life,  must  be  aware  of 
the  necessity  of  such  proceedings,  and  the  good  effects  of  them 
upon  society. 1 

It  is  far  less  humbling  for  an  offender  to  be  pardoned  at  his  own 
request,  than  through  the  interposition  of  a  third  person:  for,  in 
the  one  case,  he  may  be  led  to  think  that  it  was  his  virtue  and  pen- 

*Ageof  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  I.  Part  ll.  p.  100. 

t  Sec  Prpjident  Edwards'  Remarks  on  Important  Theological  Cootrover- 
sies.Chap.  Vf. 


144  THE  MEDIATION  OF  CHRIST  [Part  II. 

itence  which  influenced  the  decision;  whereas,  in  the  other,  he  is 
compelled  to  feel  his  own  unvvorthiness;  and  this  may  be  one  rea- 
son why  the  mediation  of  Christ  is  so  offensive.  It  is  no  wonder, 
indeed,  that  those  who  deny  humility  to  be  a  virtue,*  should  be 
disgusted  with  a  doctrine;  the  professed  object  of  which  is  to  abase 
the  pride  of  man. 

As  forgiveness  without  a  mediator  is  less  humbling  to  the  offen- 
der, so  it  provides  less  for  the  honour  of  the  offended,  than  a  con- 
trary proceeding.  Many  a  compassionate  heart  has  longed  to  go 
forth,  like  David  toward  Absalom;  but,  from  a  just  sense  of  wound- 
ed authority,  could  not  tell  how  to  effect  it;  and  has  greatly  desir- 
ed that  some  common  friend  would  interpose,  to  save  his  honour. 
He  has  wished  to  remit  the  sentence;  but  has  felt  the  want  of  a 
mediator,  at  the  instance  ofwhom  he  might  give  effect  to  his  desires; 
and  exercise  mercy  without  seeming  to  be  regardless  of  justice. 
An  offender  who  should  object  to  a  mediator,  would  be  justly  con- 
sidered as  hardened  in  impenitence,  and  regardless  of  the  honour 
of  the  offended:  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  other  construction 
can  be  put  upon  the  objections  of  sinners  to  the  mediation  of 
Christ. 

Again:  to  exercise  pardon  without  a  mediator,  would  be  fixing 
no  such  stigma  upon  the  evil  of  the  offence,  as  is  done  by  a  contra- 
ry mode  of  proceeding.  Every  man  feels  that  those  fiults  which 
may  be  overlooked  on  a  mere  acknowledgment,  are  not  of  a  very 
heinous  nature;  they  are  such  as  arise  from  inadvertence,  rather 
than  from  ill  design;  and  include  little  more  than  an  error  of  the 
judgment.  On  the  other  hand,  every  man  feels  that  the  calling 
in  of  a  third  person  is  making  much  of  the  offence,  treating  it  as  a 
serious  affair,  a  breach  that  is  not  to  be  lightly  passed  over.  This 
may  be  another  reason  why  the  mediation  of  Christ  is  so  offensive 
to  the  adversaries  of  the  gospel.  It  is  no  wonder  that  men  who 
are  continnally  speaking  of  moral  evil  under  the  palliating  name  of 
error,  frailty,  imperfection,  and  the  like,  should  spurn  at  a  doc- 
trine, the  implication  of  which  condemns  it  to  everlasting  infamy. + 

*  Volney's  Law  of  Nature,  p.  49.  t  Rom.  viii..3. 


Chapter  I  V.J         CONSISTENT  WITH  REASON.  j45 

Finally:  to  bestow  pardon  without  a  mediator  would  be  treatin^j 
the  offence  as  private,  or  passin'j;  over  it  as  a  matter  unknown,  an 
aflair  which  does  not  affect  the  well-being  of  society,  and  which 
therefore  requires  no  public  manifestation  of  displeasure  against  it. 
Many  a  notorious  offender  would,  doubtless,  wish  matters  to  be 
thus  conducted,  and  from  an  aversion  to  public  exposure,  would 
feel  strong  objections  to  the  formal  interposition  of  a  third  person. 
VVhetber  this  may  not  be  another  reason  of  dislike  to  the  mediation 
of  Christ,  1  shall  not  decide;  but  of  this  I  am  fully  satisfied,  that 
the  want  of  a  proper  sense  of  the  great  evil  of  sin,  as  it  affects  the 
moral  government  of  the  universe,  is  a  reason  why  its  adversaries 
see  no  necessity  for  if,  nor  fitness  in  it.  They  prove,  by  all  their 
writings,  that  they  have  no  delight  in  the  moral  excellency  of  the 
divine  nature,  no  just  sense  of  the  glory  of  moral  government,  and 
no  proper  views  of  the  pernicious  and  wide-extended  influence  of 
sin  upon  the  moral  system:  is  it  any  wonder,  therefore,  that  they 
should  be  unconcerned  about  the  plague  being  stayed  by  a  sacri- 
fice ?  Such  views  are  too  enlarged  for  their  selfish  and  contracted 
minds.  The  only  object  of  their  care,  even  in  their  most  serious 
moments,  is  to  escape  punishment:  for  the  honor  of  God,  and  the 
real  good  of  creation,  they  discover  no  concern. 

The  amount  is  this:  If  it  be  indeed  improper  for  a  guilty  crea- 
ture to  lie  low  before  his  Creator;  if  it  be  tinfit  that  any  regard 
should  be  paid  to  the  honour  of  his  character;  if  the  offence  com- 
mitted against  him  be  of  so  small  account  that  it  is  unncessary  for 
him  to  express  any  displeasure  against  it;  and  if  it  have  been  so 
private  and  insulated  in  its  operations,  as  in  no  \vay  to  affect  the 
well-being  of  the  moral  system;  the  doctrine  of  forgiveness  through 
a  mediator,  is  unreasonable.  But  if  the  contrary  be  true;  if  it  be 
proper  for  a  guilty  creature  to  lie  in  the  dust  before  his  offended 
Creator,  if  the  honour  of  the  divine  character  deserve  the  first  and 
highest  regard;  if  moral  evil  be  the  greatest  of  all  evils,  and  re- 
quire, even  where  it  is  forgiven,  a  strong  expression  of  divine  dis- 
pleasure against  it;  and  if  its  pernicious  influence  be  such  that,  if 
suffered  to  operate  according  to  its  native  tendency,  it  would  de- 
throne the  Almighty,  and  desolate  the  universe,  the  doctrine  in 
question  must  accord  with  the  plainest  dictates  of  reason. 

Vol..  III.  19 


146  THE  MEDIA  riON  OF  CHRIST  [Fart  11. 

The  sense  of  mankind,  with  regard  to  the  necessity  of  a  media- 
tor, may  be  illustrated  by  the  following  similitude.  Let  us  sup- 
pose a  division  of  the  army  of  one  of  the  wisest  and  best  of  kings, 
through  the  evil  counsel  of  a  foreign  enemy,  to  have  been  disaffect- 
ed to  his  government;  and  that,  without  any  provocation  on  his 
part,  they  traitorously  conspired  against  his  crown  and  life.  The 
attempt  failed;  and  the  offenders  were  seized,  disarmed,  tried  by 
the  laws  of  their  country,  and  condemned  to  die.  A  respite  how- 
ever was  granted  them,  during  his  majesty's  pleasure.  At  this 
solemn  period,  while  every  part  of  the  army  and  of  the  empire 
was  expecting  the  fatal  order  for  execution,  the  king  was  employ- 
ed in  meditating  mercy.  But  how  could  mercy  be  shown  ?  '  To 
make  light  of  a  conspiracy,'  said  he  to  his  friends,  '  would  loosen 
the  bands  of  good  government:  other  divisions  of  the  army  might 
be  tempted  to  follow  their  example;  and  the  nation  at  large  be  in 
danger  of  imputing  it  to  taineness,  fear,  or  some  unworthy  motive.' 

Every  one  felt,  in  this  case,  the  necessity  of  a  mediator,  and 
agreed  as  to  the  general  line  of  conduct  proper  for  him  to  pursue. 
*  He  must  not  attempt,'  say  they,  '  to  compromise  the  difference  by 
dividing  the  blame:  that  would  make  things  worse.  He  must  jus- 
tify the  king,  and  condemn  the  outrage  committed  against  him;  he 
must  offer,  if  possible,  some  honorable  expedient,  by  means  ol 
which  the  bestowment  of  pardon  shall  not  relax,  but  strengthen 
just  authority;  he  must  convince  the  conspirators  of  their  crime, 
and  introduce  them  in  the  character  of  supplicants;  and  mercy 
roust  be  shown  them  out  of  respect  to  him,  or  for  his  sake,' 

But  who  could  be  found  to  mediate  in  such  a  cause  ?  This  was 
an  important  question.  A  work  of  this  kind,  it  was  allowed  on  all 
hands,  required  singular  qualifications.  'He  must  be  perfectly 
clear  of  any  participation  in  the  offence^  said  one, '  or  inclination  to 
favour  it ;  for  to  pardon  conspirators  at  the  intercession  of  one 
who  is  friendly  to  their  cause,  would  not  only  be  making  light  of 
their  crime,  but  giving  a  sanction  to  it. 

'  He  must,'  said  another,  '  be  one  who  on  account  of  his  char- 
acter and  services  stands  high  in  the  esteem  of  the  king  and  of  the 
public  :  for  to  mediate  in  such  a  cause,  is  to  become,  in  a  sort,  re- 
sponsible for  the  issue.     A  mediator,  in  effect,  pledges  his  honour 


Chapter  IV]  CONSISTENT  WITH   REASON.  I47 

that  no  evil  will  result  to  the  state  from  the  granting  of  his  request. 
But  if  a  mean  opinion  be  entertained  of  him,  no  trust  can  be  placed 
in  him,  and,  consequently,  no  good  impression  would  be  made  by 
his  mediation  on  the  public  mind. 

"  I  conceive  it  is  necessary,'  said  a  third,  *  that  the  weight  of  the 
mediation  should  bear  a  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  crime, 
and  to  the  value  of  the  favour  requested  ;  and  that  for  this  end  it 
is  proper  he  should  be  a  person  of  great  dignity.  For  his  majesty 
to  pardon  a  company  of  conspirators  at  the  intercession  of  one  of 
their  former  comrades,  or  of  any  other  obscure  character,  even 
though  he  might  be  a  worthy  man,  would  convey  a  very  diminu- 
tive idea  of  the  evil  of  the  oflence.' 

A  fourth  remarked,  that  '  he  must  possess  a  tender  conipasxion 
towards  the  unhappy  offenders,  or  he  would  not  cordially  interest 
himself  on  their  behalf.' 

Finally  :  It  was  suggested  by  a  fifth, '  that  for  the  greater  fitness 
of  the  proceeding,  it  would  be  proper  that  some  relation  or  con- 
nexion should  subsist  between  the  parties.  We  feel  the  propriety,' 
said  he,  '  of  forgiving  an  oflence  at  the  intercession  of  a  father,  or 
a  brother  ;  or,  if  it  be  committed  by  a  soldier,  of  his  commanding 
officer.  ^Vithout  some  kind  of  previous  relation  or  connexion,  a 
mediation  would  have  the  appearance  of  an  arbitrary  and  formal 
process,  and  prove  but  little  interesting  to  the  hearts  of  the  com- 
munity.' 

Such  were  the  reasonings  of  the  king's  friends  ;  but  where  to 
find  the  character  in  whom  these  qualifications  were  united,  and 
what  particular  expedient  could  be  devised,  by  means  of  which, 
instead  of  relaxing,  pardon  should  strengthen  just  authority,  were 
subjects  too  difficult  lor  them  to  resolve. 

Meanwhile,  the  king  and  his  son,  whom  he  greatly  loved,  and 
whom  he  had  appointed  generalissimo  of  all  his  forces,  had  retired 
from  the  campany,  and  were  conversing  about  the  matter  which 
attracted  the  general  attention. 

*  My  son  !'  said  the  benevolent  sovereign,  '  what  can  be  done 
in  behalf  of  these  unhappy  men  ?  To  order  them  for  execution 
violates  every  feeling  of  my  heart :  yet  to  pardon  them  is  danger- 
011?.     The  army,  and  even  thj»  empire,  would  be  under  a  strong 


148  THE  MEDIATION  OF  CHRIST  [Part  If. 

temptation  to  think  lightly  of  rebellion.  If  mercy  be  exercised,  it 
must  be  through  a  mediator  ;  and  who  is  qualified  to  mediate  in 
such  a  cause  ?  And  what  expedient  can  be  devised  by  means  of 
which  pardon  shall  not  relax,  but  strengthen  just  authority  ? 
Speak,  my  son,  and  say  what  measures  can  be  pursued  ?' 

'  My  father !'  said  the  prince,  '  I  feel  the  insult  offered  to  your 
person  and  government,  and  the  injury  thereby  aimed  at  the  em- 
pire at  large.  They  have  transgressed  without  cause,  and  deserve 
to  die  without  mercy.  Yet  I  also  feel  for  them.  I  have  the  heart 
of  a  soldier.  I  cannot  endure  to  witness  their  execution.  What 
shall  I  say  ?  On  me  be  this  wrong  !  Let  me  suffer  in  their  stead. 
Inflict  on  me  as  much  as  is  necessary  to  impress  the  army  and  the 
nation  with  a  just  sense  of  the  evil,  and  of  the  importance  of  good 
order  and  faithful  allegiance.  Let  it  be  in  their  presence,  and  in 
the  presence  of  all  assembled.  When  this  is  done,  let  them  be 
permitted  to  implore  and  receive  your  majesty's  pardon  in  my 
name.  If  any  man  refuse  so  to  implore,  and  so  to  receive  it,  let 
him  die  the  death  !' 

'My  son!' replied  the  king,  'you  have  expressed  my  heart! 
The  same  things  have  occupied  my  mind  ;  but  it  was  my  desire 
that  you  should  be  voluntary  in  the  undertaking.  It  shall  be  as 
you  have  said,  I  shall  be  satisfied  ;  justice  itself  will  be  satisfied  ;  and 
I  pledge  my  honour  that  you  also  shall  be  satisfied  in  seeing  the 
happy  effects  of  your  disinterested  conduct.  Propriety  requires 
that  I  stand  aloof  in  the  day  of  your  affliction  ;  but  I  will  not  leave 
you  utterly',  nor  suffer  the  beloved  of  my  soul  to  remain  in  that 
condition.  A  temporary  affliction  on  your  part  will  be  more  than 
equivolent  to  death  on  theirs.  The  dignity  of  your  person  and 
character  will  render  the  sufferings  of  an  hour  of  greater  account 
as  to  the  impression  of  the  public  mind,  than  if  all  the  rebellious 
had  been  executed  :  and  by  how  much  I  am  known  to  have  loved 
you,  by  so  much  will  my  compassion  to  them,  and  my  displeasure 
against  their  wicked  conduct,  be  made  manifest.  Go,  my  son, 
assume  the  likeness  of  a  criminal,  and  suffer  in  their  place!' 

The  gracious  design  being  communicated  at  court,  all  were 
struck  with  it.  Those  who  had  reasoned  on  the  qualifications  of 
a  mediator,  saw  that  in  the  prince  all  were  united,  and  were  filled 


Chapter  IV.]         CONSISTENT  WITH  REASON.  I49 

with  admiration  :  but  that  ho  should  be  wilHng  to  suffer  in  the 
place  of  rebels,  was  beyond  all  that  could  have  been  asked  or 
thought.  Yet,  seeing  he  himself  had  generously  proposed  it, 
would  survive  his  sufferings,  and  reap  the  reward  of  them,  they 
cordially  acquiesced.  The  only  difficulty  that  was  started  was 
among  the  judges  of  the  realm.  They,  at  first,  questioned  whether 
the  proceeding  were  admissible.  '  The  law,'  said  they,  *  makes 
provision  for  the  transfer  of  debts,  but  not  of  crimes.  Its  language 
is  The  soul  that  sinneth  shall  die.''  But  when  they  came  to  view 
things  on  a  more  enlarged  scale,  considering  it  as  an  expedient  on 
an  extraordinary  occasion,  and  perceived  that  the  spirit  of  the  law 
would  be  preserved,  and  all  the  ends  of  good  government  answered, 
they  were  satisfied.  '  It  is  not  a  measure,'  said  they,  '  for  which 
the  law  provides :  yet  it  is  not  contrary  to  the  law,  but  above  it.' 

The  day  appointed  arrived.  The  prince  appeared,  and  suf- 
fered as  a  criminal.  Thfa  hearts  of  the  king's  friends  bled  at  every 
stroke,  and  burned  with  indignation  against  the  conduct  which  ren- 
dered it  necessary.  His  enemies,  however,  even  some  of  those 
for  whom  he  suffered,  continuing  to  be  disaffected,  added  to  the 
affliction,  by  deriding  and  insulting  him  all  the  time.  y\t  a  proper 
period,  he  was  rescued  from  their  outrage.  Returning  to  tlie  pal- 
ace, amidst  the  tears  and  shouts  of  the  loyal  spectators,  the  suffer- 
ing hero  was  embraced  by  his  royal  father;  who,  in  addition  to 
the  natural  affection  which  he  bore  to  him  as  a  son,  loved  him  for 
his  singular  interposition  at  such  a  crisis  :  '  Sit  thou,'  said  he,  *  at 
my  right  hand  !  Though  the  threatenings  of  the  law  be  not  liter- 
ally accomplished,  yet  the  spirit  of  them  is  preserved.  The  hon- 
our of  good  government  is  secured,  and  the  end  of  punishment 
more  effectually  answered,  than  if  all  the  rebels  had  been  sacrifi- 
ced. Ask  of  me  what  I  shall  give  thee  !  No  favour  can  be  too 
great  to  be  bestowed,  even  upon  the  unworthiest,  nor  any  crime 
too  aggravated  to  be  forgiven,  in  thy  name.  I  will  grant  thee 
according  to  thine  own  heart !  Ask  of  me,  my  son,  what  I  shall 
give  thee!' 

He  asked  for  the  offenders  to  be  introduced  as  supplicants  at 
the  feet  of  his  father,  for  the  forgiveness  of  their  crimes,  and  for 


150  THE  MEDIATION  OF  CHRIST  [Part  If. 

the  direction  of  affairs  till  order  and  happiness  should  be  perfectly 
restored. 

A  proclamation  addressed  to  the  conspirators  was  now  issued, 
stating  what  had  been  their  conduct,  what  the  conduct  of  the  king; 
and  what  of  the  prince.  Messengers  also  were  appointed  to  carry 
it,  with  orders  to  read  it  publicly,  and  to  expostulate  with  them 
individually,  beseeching  them  to  be  reconciled  to  their  offended 
sovereign,  and  to  assure  them  that  if  they  rejected  this,  there 
remained  no  more  hope  of  mercy. 

A  spectator  would  suppose,  that  in  mercy  so  freely  offered, 
and  so  honourably  communicated,  every  one  would  have  acqui- 
esced ;  and  if  reason  had  governed  the  offenders,  it  had  been  so: 
but  nntany  among  them  continued  under  the  influence  of  disaffec- 
tion, and  disaffection  gives  a  false  colouring  to  every  thing. 

The  time  of  the  respite  having  proved  longer  than  it  was  at  first 
expected,  some  had  begun  to  amuse  themselves  with  idle  specula- 
tions, flattering  themselves  that  their  fault  was  a  mere  trifle,  and 
that  it  certainly  would  be  passed  over.  Indeed  the  greater  part 
of  them  had  turned  their  attention  to  other  things,  concluding  that 
the  king  was  not  in  good  earnest. 

When  the  proclamation  was  raad,  many  paid  no  manner  of  atten- 
tion to  it  ;  some  insinuated  that  the  messengers  were  interested 
men,  and  that  there  might  be  no  truth  in  what  they  said;  and  some 
even  abused  them  as  impostors.  So,  having  delivered  their  mes- 
sage, they  withdrew  :  and  the  rebels  finding  themselves  alone, 
such  of  them  as  paid  any  attention  to  the  subject,  expressed  their 
minds  as  follows  : — 

'  My  heart,'  says  one,  '  rises  against  every  part  of  this  proceed- 
ing. Why  all  this  ado  about  a  few  words  spoken  one  to  another  ? 
Can  such  a  message  as  this  have  proceeded  from  the  king  ?  What 
have  we  done  so  much  against  him,  that  so  much  should  be  made 
of  it  ?  No  petition  of  ours,  it  seems,  would  avail  any  thing  ;  and 
nothing  that  we  could  say  or  do  could  be  regarded,  unless  present- 
ed in  the  name  of  a  third  person.  Surely  if  we  present  a  petition 
in  our  own  names,  in  which  we  beg  pardon,  and  promise  not  to 
repeat  the  offence,  this  might  suffice.     Even  this  is  more  than  I 


Chapter  IV.]  CONSISTENT  WITH  REASON.  151 

can  find  in  my  heart  to  comply  with  ;  but  every  thing  beyond  it  is 
unreasonable  ;  and  who  can  believe  that  the  king  can  desire  it  ? 

'  If  a  third  person,'  says  another,  '  must  be  concerned  in  the 
affair,  what  occasion  is  there  for  one  so  high  in  rank  and  dignity  ? 
To  stand  in  need  of  such  a  mediator  must  stamp  our  characters  with 
everlasting  infamy.  It  is  very  unreasonable:  who  can  believe  it  ? 
if  the  king  be  just  and  good,  as  they  say  he  is,  how  can  he  wish 
(bus  publicly  to  expose  us  ?' 

'  I  observe,'  says  «  third,  '  that  the  mediator  is  Zi'holly  on  the  king's 
nde  ;  and  one,  whom  though  he  affects  to  pity  us,  we  hare,  from 
the  outset,  considered  as  no  less  our  enemy  than  the  king  himself. 
If,  indeed,  he  could  compromise  matters,  and  would  allow  that  we 
had  our  provocations,  and  would  promise  us  redress,  and  an  ea- 
sier yoke  in  future,  I  should  feel  inclined  to  hearken  :  but  if  he 
have  no  concessions  to  offer,  I  can  never  be  reconciled.' 

•  I  believe,'  says  a  fourth,  '  that  the  king  knows  very  well  that 
we  hav^  not  had  justice  done  us,  and  therefore  this  meditation 
business  is  introduced  to  make  us  amends  for  the  injury.  It  is  an 
affair  settled  somehow  betwixt  him  and  his  son.  They  call  ij 
grace ;  and  I  am  not  much  concerned  what  they  call  it,  so  that  my 
life  is  spared  :  but  this  I  say,  If  he  had  not  made  this  or  some 
kind  of  provision,  I  should  have  thought  him  a  tyrant.' 

'  You  are  all  wrong,'  says  a  fifth  :  I  comprehend  the  design, 
and  am  well  pleased  with  it.  I  hate  the  government  as  much  as 
any  of  you  :  but  I  love  the  mediator  ;  for  1  understand  it  is  his 
intention  to  deliver  me  from  its  tyranny.  He  has  paid  the  debt, 
the  king  is  satisfied,  and  1  am  free.  I  will  sue  out  for  my  right, 
and  demand  my  liberty  !' 

In  addition  to  this,  one  of  the  company  observed,  he  did  not  see 
what  the  greater  part  of  them  had  to  do  with  the  proclamation,  un- 
less it  were  to  give  it  a  hearing,  which  they  had  done  already. 
'  For,  said  he,  '  pardon  is  promised  only  to  them  who  are  willing 
to  submit,  and  it  is  well  known  that  many  of  us  are  an  willing  ;  nor 
can  we  alter  our  minds  on  this  subject. 

After  a  while,  however,  some  of  them  were  brought  to  relent. 
They  thought  upon  the  subject  matter  of  the  proclamation,  were 


152  THE  MEDIATION  OF  CHRIST  [Part  If. 

convinced  of  the  justness  of  its  statements,  reflected  upon  their 
evil  conduct,  and  were  sincerely  sorry  on  account  of  it.  And  now 
the  meditation  of  the  prince  appeared  in  a  very  different  light. 
They  cordially  said  Amen  to  every  part  of  the  proceeding,  The 
very  things  which  gave  such  offence  while  their  hearts  were  dis- 
affected, now  appeared  to  them  fit,  and  right,  and  glorious.  *  It  is 
fit,'  say  they,  '  that  the  king  should  be  honoured,  and  that  we 
should  be  humbled  ;  for  we  have  transgressed  without  cause.  It  is 
right  that  no  regard  should  be  paid  to  any  petition  of  ours,  for  its 
own  sake  ;  for  we  have  done  deeds  worthy  of  death.  It  is  glori- 
ous that  we  should  be  saved  at  the  intercession  of  so  honourable  a 
personage.  The  dignity  of  his  character,  together  with  his 
surprising  condescension  and  goodness,  impresses  us  more 
than  any  thing  else,  and  fills  our  hearts  with  penitence,  con- 
fidence, and  love.  That  which  in  the  proclamation  is  called 
grace,  is  grace  ;  for  we  are  utterly  unworthy  of  it  ;  and  if  we  had 
all  suffered  according  to  our  sentence,  the  king  and  his  thiipne  had 
been  guiltless.  We  embrace  the  meditation  of  the  prince,  not  as 
a  reparation  for  an  injury,  but  as  a  single  instance  of  mercy.  And 
far  be  it  from  us,  that  we  should  consider  it  as  designed  to  deliver 
us  from  our  original  and  just  allegiance  to  his  majesty's  govern- 
ment !  No,  rather,  it  is  intended  to  restore  us  to  it.  We  love  our 
intercessor,  and  will  implore  forgiveness  in  his  name  ;  but  we  also 
love  our  sovereign,  and  long  to  prostrate  ourselves  at  his  feet.  We 
rejoice  in  the  satisfaction  which  the  prince  has  made,  and  all  our 
hopes  of  mercy  are  founded  upon  it  :  but  we  have  no  notion  of 
being  freed  by  it  previously  to  our  acquiescence  in  it.  Nor  do 
we  desire  any  other  kind  of  freedom  than  that  which  while  it  re- 
mits the  just  sentence  of  the  law,  restores  us  to  his  majesty's  gov- 
ernment. O  that  we  were  once  clear  of  this  hateful  and  horrid 
conspiracy,  and  might  be  permitted  to  serve  him  with  affection 
and  fidelity  all  the  days  of  our  life  !  We  cannot  suspect  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  invitation,  or  acquit  our  companions  on  the  score  of 
unwillingness.  Why  should  we  ?  We  do  not  on  this  account  ac- 
quit ourselves.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  remembrance  of  our 
unwillingness  that  now  cuts  us  to  the  heart.     We  well  remember 


Chapter  IV'.J  CONSISTENT  WITH  REASON.  J53 

to  what  it  was  owing  that  we  could  not  be  satisfied  with  the  just 
government  of  the  king,  and  afterwards  could  not  comply  with  the 
invitations  of  mercy  :  it  was  because  we  were  under  the  dominion 
of  a  disaffected  spirit  ;  a  spirit  which,  wicked  as  it  is  in  itself,  it 
would  be  more  wicked  to  justify.  Our  counsel  is,  therefore,  the 
same  as  that  of  his  majesty's  messengers,  with  whom  we  now  take 
our  stand.  Let  us  lay  aside  this  cavilling  humour,  repent,  and  sue 
for  mercy  in  the  way  prescril>ed,  ere  mercy  be  hid  from  our 
eyes  !' 

The  reader,  in  applying  this  supposed  case  to  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  will  do  me  the  justice  to  remember,  that  I  do  not  pretend 
to  have  perfectly  represented  it.  Probably  there  is  no  similitude 
fully  adequate  to  the  purpose.  The  distinction  between  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  Son,  is  not  the  same  as  that  which  subsists  between  a 
father  and  a  son  among  men  :  the  latter  are  two  separate  beings  : 
but  to  assert  this  of  the  former,  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  divine 
unity.  Nor  can  any  thing  be  found  analogous  to  the  doctrine  of  di- 
vine intluence,  by  which  the  redemption  of  Christ  is  caried  into 
effect.  And  with  respect  to  the  innocent  voluntarily  suffering  for 
the  guilty,  in  a  few  extraordinary  instances  this  principle  may  be 
adopted;  but  the  management  and  application  of  it  generally  require 
more  wisdom  and  more  power  than  mortals  possess.  We  may  by 
the  help  of  a  machine,  collect  a  few  sparks  of  the  electrical  fluid, 
and  produce  an  effect  somewhat  resembling  that  of  lightning  :  but 
we  cannot  cause  it  to  blaze  like  the  Almighty,  nor  thunder  with  a 
voice  like  Him. 

Imperfect,  however,  as  the  foregoing  similitude  may  appear  in 
some  respects,  it  is  sufficient  to  show  the  fallacy  of  Mr.  Paine's 
reasoning.  "  The  doctrine  of  Redemption,"  says  this  writer, 
"  has  for  its  basis  an  idea  of  pecuniary  justice,  and  not  that  of  moral 
justice.  If  I  owe  a  person  money,  and  cannot  pay  him,  and  he 
threatens  to  put  me  in  prison,  another  person  can  take  the  debt 
upon  himself,  and  pay  it  for  me:  but  if  I  have  committed  a  crime, 
every  circumstance  of  the  case  is  changed.  Moral  justice  cannot 
take  the  innocent  for  the  guilty,  even  if  the  innocent  would  offer 
itself.  To  suppose  justice  to  do  this,  is  to  destroy  the  principle 
of  its  existence,  which  is  the  thing  itself.  It  is  then  no  longer  jus- 
Voi.  II!,  20 


154  1'HE  MEDIATION  OF  CHRIST  [Part  II. 

tice;  but  is  indiscriminate  revenge."*  This  objection,  which  is 
the  same  for  substance  as  has  been  frequently  urged  by  Socinians 
as  well  as  Deists,  is  founded  in  misrepresentation.  It  is  not  true 
that  redemption  has  for  its  basis  the  idea  of  pecuniary  justice,  and 
and  not  that  of  moral  justice.  That  sin  is  called  a  debt,  and  the 
death  of  Christ  apn'ce,  diVansom,  &c.  is  true  ;  but  it  is  no  unusual 
thing  for  moral  obligations  and  deliverances,  to  be  expressed  in 
language  borrowed  from  pecuniary  transactions.  The  obligations 
of  a  son  to  a  father,  are  commonly  expressed  by  such  terms  as 
owing  and  paying  :  he  owes  a  debt  of  obedience,  and  in  yielding  it 
he  pays  a  debt  of  gratitude.  The  same  may  be  said  of  an  obligation 
to  punishment.  A  murderer  owes  his  life  to  the  justice  of  hi? 
country  ;  and  when  he  suffers,  he  is  said  io  pay  the  awful  debt. 
So  also  if  a  great  character  by  suffering  death,  could  deliver  his  coun- 
try, such  deliverance  would  be  spoken  of  as  obtained  by  the  price 
of  blood.  No  one  mistakes  these  things  bj'  understanding  them  of 
pecuniary  transactions.  In  such  connexions,  every  one  perceives 
that  the  terras  are  used  not  literally,  but  metaphorically  ;  and  it  is 
thus  that  they  are  to  be  understood  with  reference  to  the  death  of 
Christ.  As  sin  is  not  a  pecuniary,  but  a  moral  debt  ;  so  the  atone- 
ment for  it  is  not  a  pecuniary,  but  a  moral  ransom. 

There  is  doubtless  a  sufficient  analogy  between  pecuniary  and  mor- 
al proceedings,  to  justify  the  use  of  such  language,  both  in  scripture 
and  in  common  life}  and  it  is  easy  to  perceive  the  advantages  which 
which  arise  from  it  ;  as  besides  conveying  much  important  truth,  it 
renders  it  peculiarly  impressive  to  the  mind.  But  it  is  not  always 
safe  to  reason  from  the  former  to  the  latter  ;  much  less  is  it  just  to 
affirm,  that  the  latter  has  for  its  basis  every  principle  which  per- 
tains to  the  former.  The  deliverance  effected  by  the  prince,  in  the 
case  before  stated,  might,  with  propriety,  be  called  a  redemption  ; 
and  the  recollection  of  it,  under  this  idea,  would  be  very  impres- 
sive to  the  minds  of  those  who  were  delivered.  They  would 
scarcely  be  able  to  see  or  think  of  their  Commander  in  Chief, 
even  though  it  might  be  years  after  the  event,  without  being  re- 
minded of  the  jpn'ce  at  which  their  pardon  was  obtained,  and  drop- 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  20. 


Chapter  IV. |  CONSISTENT  WITH  REASON.  155 

ping  a  tear  of  incjenuons  grief  over  their  unworthy  conduct  on  this 
account.  Yet  it  would  not  he  just  to  say,  that  this  redemption 
had  for  its  basis  an  ideaof  pecuniary  justice,  and  not  that  of  moral 
iu<ticc.  It  was  moral  justice  which  in  this  case  was  satisfied  :  not, 
however,  in  its  ordinary  form,  but  as  exercised  on  an  extraordi- 
nary occasion  ;  not  the  letter,  but  the  spirit  of  it. 

The  scripture  doctrine  of  atonement  being  conveyed  in  language 
borrowed  from  pecuniary  transactions,  is  not  only  improved  by 
unbelivers  into  an  argument  against  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  but  has 
been  the  occasion  of  many  errors  among  the  professors  of  Christi- 
anity. Socinus,  on  this  ground,  attempts  to  explain  away  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  satisfaction.  "  God,"  says  he,  "  is  our  Creditor.  Our 
sins  are  debts  \\\\\c\\  we  have  contracted  with  him  ;  but  every  one 
may  yield  up  his  right,  and  more  especially  God,  who  is  the  su- 
preme Lord  of  all,  and  extolled  in  the  scriptures  for  his  liberality 
and  goodness.  Hence,  then,  it  is  evident  that  God  can  pardon  sins 
without  any  satisfaction  received,'**  Others,  who  profess  to  em- 
brace the  doctrine  of  satisfaction,  have  on  the  same  ground,  per- 
verted and  abused  it ;  objecting  to  the  propriety  of  humble  and 
continued  applications  for  mercy,  and  presuming  to  claim  the  for- 
giveness of  their  sins,  past,  present,  and  to  come,  as  their  legal 
right,  and  what  it  would  be  unjust  in  the  Supreme  Being,  having 
received  complete  satisfaction,  to  withhold. 

To  the  reasoning  of  Socinus,  Dr.  Owen  judiciously  replies,  by 
distinguishing  between  right,  as  it  respects  debts,  and  as  it  respects 
gox'ernment.  The  former,  he  allows,  may  be  given  up  without  a 
satisfaction,  but  not  the  latter.  "  Our  sins,"  he  adds,  "  are  called 
debts,  not  properly,  but  metaphorically."!  This  answer  equally 
applies  to  those  who  pervert  the  doctrine,  as  well  as  those  who 
deny  it  :  for  though  in  matters  of  debt  and  credit  a  full  satisfac- 
tion from  a  surety  excludes  the  idea  of  yree  pardon  on  the  part  of 
the  creditor,  and  admits  of  a  claim  on  the  part  of  the  debtor,  yet  it 
is  otherwise  in  relation  to  crimes.  In  the  interposition  of  the 
prince,  as  stated  above,  an  honourable  expedient  was  adopted,  by 

*  Treatise  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour,  Part  III.  Chap.  I. 
f  Dissertation  on  Divinn  .Tustire,  Chap.  IX.  Section  VII.  VIII. 


156  THE  MEDIATION  OF  CHRIST  [Fart  II. 

means  of  which  the  sovereigo  was  satisfied,  and  the  exercise  of 
mercy  rendered  consistent  with  just  authority  :  but  there  was  no 
less  grace  in  the  act  of  forgiveness,  than  if  it  had  been  without  a 
satisfoction.  However  well  pleased  the  king  might  be  with  the 
conduct  of  his  son,  the  freenesb  of  pardon  was  not  at  all  fliminish- 
ed  by  it;  nor  must  the  criminals  come  before  him  as  claimants,  but 
as  supplicants,  imploring  mercy  in  the  mediator's  name. 

Such  are  the  leading  ideas  which  the  scriptures  give  us  of  re- 
demption by  Jesus  Christ.  The  apostle  Paul  especially  teaches 
this  doctrine  with  great  precision  :  Being  justified  freely  by  his 
grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Chirist  Jesus  :  whom  God 
hath  set  forth  to  he  a  propitiation,  through  faith  in  his  blood, to  de- 
clare his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sijis  that  are  past, 
through  the  forbearance  of  God  ;  to  declare,  I  say,  at  this  time,  his 
righteousness  :  that  he  might  be  just,  and  thejustifier  of  him  which 
helieveth  in  Jesus*  From  this  passage  we  may  remark,  First : 
That  the  grace  of  God,  as  taught  in  the  scriptures,  is  not  that  kind 
of  liberality  which  Socinians  and  Deists  ascribe  to  him,  which  sets 
aside  the  necessity  of  a  satisfaction.  Free  grace,  according  to 
Paul,  requires  a  propitiation,  even  the  shedding  of  the  Saviour's 
blood,  a  medium  through  which  it  may  be  honourably  communica- 
ted. Secondly:  Redemption  by  Jesus  Christ  was  accomplished, 
not  by  a  satisfaction  that  should  preclude  the  exercise  of  grace  in 
forgiveness,  but  in  which,  the  displeasure  of  God  against  sin  being 
manifested,  mercy  to  the  sinner  might  be  exercised  without  any 
suspicion  of  his  having  relinquished  his  regards  for  righteousness. 
In  setting  forth  Jesus  Christ  to  be  a  propitiation,  he  declared  his 
righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Thirdly:  the  righteousness 
of  God  was  not  only  declared  when  Christ  was  made  a  propitiato- 
ry sacrifice;  but  continues  to  be  manifested  in  the  acceptance  of 
believers  through  his  name.  He  appears  as  just  while  acting  the 
part  of  a  justifier  towards  every  one  that  believeth  in  Jesus. 
Fourthly:  That  which  is  here  applied  to  the  blessings  of  forgive- 
ness and  acceptance  with  God,  is  applicable  to  all  other  spiritual 

*  Rom.  iii.  24—26, 


Chapter  IV. J  COXSISTKNT  WITH  REASON.  I57 

blessings:  all,  according  to  the  scriptures,  are  freely  communica- 
ted through  the  same  distinguished  medium.     See  Ephes.  i.* 

•The  Cliiistiaii  reader,  it  is  presumed,  may,  from  hence,  obtain  a  cleai 
view  of  the  ends  answered  by  tiie  death  of  Clirist,  a  subject  which  lias  occu- 
pied much  attention  amonj,'  divines.  Some  have  asserted,  that  Christ  by  his 
satisfaction  accomplibhed  this  only,  "  That  God  now,  consistently  witli  the 
honour  of  his  justice,  may  pardon  (returning^  sinners  if  he  willeth  so  to  do." 
This  is,  doubtless,  true,  as  far  as  it  goes  ;  but  it  makes  no  provision  for  the 
return  of  the  sinner.  This  scheme,  therefore,  leaves  the  sinner  to  perish  in 
impenitence  and  unbelief,  and  the  Saviour  without  any  security  of  seeing  of 
the  travail  of  his  soul,  t'or  how  can  a  sinner  return  without  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.'  And  the  Holy  Spirit,  equally  with  every  other  spiritual  bless- 
ing, is  given  in  consideration  of  the  death  of  Christ.  Others,  to  remedy  this 
defect,  have  considered  the  death  of  Christ  as  purchasing  repentance  and 
faith,  as  well  as  all  other  spiritual  blessings,  onbehalf  of  the  elect.  The  wri- 
ter of  these  pages  acknowledges  he  never  could  perceive  that  any  clear  or 
determinate  idea,  was  conveyed  by  the  term,  purchase,  in  this  connexion  ;  nor 
does  it  appear  to  him  to  be  applicable  to  the  subject,  unless  it  be  in  an  im- 
proper or  figurative  sense.  He  hasnodoubt  of  the  atonement  of  Christ  being 
a  perfect  satisfaction  to  divine  justice  ;  nor  of  his  being  worthy  of  all  that  was 
conferred  upon  him,  and  upon  us  for  his  sake ;  nor  of  that  which  to  us  is  sove- 
reign mercy  being  to  him  an  exercise  of  remunerative  justice  :  but  he  wishes 
it  to  be  considered,  Whether  the  moral  Governor  of  the  world  was  laid  under 
such  a  kind  of  obligation  to  show  mercy  to  sinners  as  a  creditor  is  under  to  dij- 
•  harge  a  debtor,  on  having  received  full  satisfaction  at  the  hands  of  a  surety  .* 
If  he  be,  the  writer  is  unable  to  perceive  how  there  can  be  any  room  for  free 
forgiveness  on  the  part  of  God;  or  how  it  can  be  said  that  justice  and  grace 
harmonize  in  a  sinner's  salvation.  Nothing  is  farther  from  his  intention  than 
to  depreciate  the  merit  of  his  Lord  and  Saviour:  but  he  considers  merit  as  of 
two  kinds  ;  either  on  account  of  a  benejit  conferred,  which  on  the  footing  o( 
justice  requires  an  equal  return,  or  of  something  done  or  suffered  which  iv 
worthy  of  being  rewarded,  by  a  Being  distinguished  by  his  love  of  righteous- 
ness. In  the  first  sense,  it  cannot,  as  he  supposes,  be  exercised  towards  an 
infinite  and  perfect  Being.  The  gootlness  of  Christ  himself,  in  this  way,  ex- 
lendeth  not  to  him.  It  is  in  the  last  sense  that  the  scriptures  appear  to  him  to 
represent  the  merit  of  the  Redeemer.  That  he  "who  was  in  the  form  of 
God,  should  take  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  be  made  in  the  likeness 
of  men,  and  humble  himself,  and  become  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death 
of  the  cross,"  was  so  glorious  an  undertaking,  and  so  acceptable  to  the  Fa- 
ther, that  on  this  account  he  "set  him  at  his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly 
places,  far  above  all  principality  and  power,  and  might  and  dominion,  and 
erery  nam«"  that  i"  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  »lso  in  that  which  is  to 


158  THE  MEDIATION  OF  CHRIST  [Part  11. 

These  remarks  may  suffice  to  show,  not  only  that  Mr.  Paine's 
assertion  has  no  truth  in  it,  but  that  all  those  professors  of  Chris- 
tianity who  have  adopted  his  principle,  have  so  far  deviated  from 
the  doctrine  of  redemption  as  it  is  taught  in  the  scriptures. 

As  to  what  Mr.  Paine  alleges,  that  the  innocent  suffering  for 
the  guilty,  even  though  it  be  with  his  own  consent,  is  contrary  to 
every  principle  of  moral  justice,  he  affirms  the  same  of  God's  rm<- 
ing  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children.*  But  this  is  a  truth 
evidf^nt  by  universal  experience.  It  is  seen  every  day,  in  every 
part  of  the  world.  If  Mr.  Paine  indulge  in  intemperance,  and 
leave  children  behind  him,  they  may  feel  the  consequences  of  his 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  4.  Note. 

come  :  and  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and  gave  liitn  to  be  the  head 
over  all  things  to  the  church."  Nor  was  this  all :  so  well  pleased  was  he  with 
all  that  he  did  and  suffered,  as  to  reward  it  not  only  with  honours  conferred 
upon  himself,  but  with  blessings  on  sinners  for  his  sake.  Whatever  is  asked 
in  his  name,  it  is  given  us. 

It  is  thus,  as  the  writer  apprehend?,  that  a  wat  was  opened  by  the  me- 
diation OF  Christ, FOR  the  free  and  consistent  exercise  of  mercy 
IN  all  the  methods  which  sovereign  wisdom  saw  fit  to  adopt. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  blessings  in  particular,  which  God,  out  of  regard  to 
the  death  of  his  Son,  bestows  upon  men  :  First,  He  sends  forth  the  gospel  of 
salvation,  accompanied  with  a  free  and  indefinite  invitation  to  embrace  it, 
and  an  assurance  that  whosoever  complies  with  the  invitation,  (for  which 
there  is  no  ability  wanting  in  any  man  who  possesses  an  honest  heart,)  shall 
have  everlasting  life.  This  favour  is  bestowed  on  sinners  as  sinners. 
God  giveth  the  true  bread  from  heaven  in  this  way  to  many  who  never  receive 
it.  He  inviteth  those  to  the  gospel  supper  who  refuse  and  make  light  of  it. — 
John  vi,  32 — 36,  Matt.  xxii.  4,  5,  Secondly,  He  bestows  his  Holy  Spirit  to 
renew  and  sanctify  the  soul :  gives  a  new  heart  and  a  right  spirit,  and  takes 
away  the  heart  of  stone.  Christ  is  exalted  to  give  repentance.  Acts  v.  31. 
Unto  us  it  is  given  in  behalf  of  Christ,  to  believe  in  him.  Phil.  i.  29.  JVe  have 
obtained  like  precious  faith  through  the  righteousness  of  God,  and  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  2  Pet.  i.  1.  This  favor  is  conferred  on  elect  sinners.  See 
Acts  xiii.  48.  Rom.  viii.  28 — 30.  Thirdly,  Through  the  same  medium  is 
given  the  free  pardon  of  all  our  sins,  acceptance  with  God,  power  to  become 
the  sons  of  God,  and  the  promise  of  everlasting  life.  Your  sins  are  forgiven 
you  for  his  name''s  sake.  1  John,  ii.  12.  God  for  Christ^s  sake  hath  forgiven 
you.  Ephes.  iv.  32.  We  are  accepted  in  the  beloved.  Ephes.  i.  6.  Bi/  means 
of  his  death  we  receive  the  promise  of  eternal  inheritance,  Heb.  ix.  13.  This 
kind  of  blessings  is  conferred  on  believing  sinners. 


Chapter  IV.]  CONSISTENT  WITH  REASON.  J59 

misconduct  when  he  is  in  the  grave.  The  sins  of  the  father  may 
thus  he  visited  upon  the  children  to  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tion. It  would,  however,  be  their  affliction  only,  and  not  their 
punishment.  Yet  such  visitations  are  wisely  ordered  as  a  motive 
to  sobriety.  Nor  is  it  between  parents  and  children  only  that 
such  a  connexion  exists,  as  that  the  happiness  of  one  depends  upon 
the  conduct  of  others;  a  slight  survey  of  society,  in  its  various 
relations,  must  convince  us  that  tiie  same  principle  pervades  crea- 
tion. To  call  this  injustice,  is  to  fly  in  the  face  of  the  Creator. 
With  such  an  objector  I  have  nothiug  to  do:  He  that  reproveth  God, 
let  Iwn  ansrvcr  it. 

If  the  idea  of  the  innocent  suflfering  in  the  room  of  the  guilty, 
were  in  all  cases  inadmissible,  and  utterly  repugnant  to  the  human 
understanding,  how  came  the  use  of  expiatory  sacrifices  to  prevail 
as  it  has, in  everv  age  and  nation?  Whether  the  idea  first  proceed- 
ed from  a  divine  command,  as  Christians  generally  believe,  or 
whatever  was  its  origin,  it  has  approved  itself  to  the  minds  of  men, 
and  not  of  the  most  uncultivated  part  of  mankind  only,  but  of  the 
most  learned  and  polite.  The  sacrifices  of  the  Gentiles,  it  is  true, 
were  full  of  superstition,  and  widely  difierent,  as  might  be  expect- 
ed, from  those  which  were  regulated  by  the  scriptures;  but  the 
general  principle  is  the  same:  all  agree  in  the  idea  of  the  displeas- 
ure of  Deity  being  appeasable  by  an  innocent  victim  being  sacrifi- 
C.d  in  the  place  of  the  guilty.  The  idea  of  expiatory  sacrifices, 
and  of  a  mediation  founded  upon  them,  is  beautifully  expressed  in 
the  book  of  Job;  a  book  not  only  of  great  antiqui*y,  but  which 
seems  to  have  obtained  the  approbation  of  Mr.  Paine,  having,  as 
he  supposed,  been  written  by  a  Gentile.  And  it  teas  so,  that,  after 
the  Lord  had  spoken  these  words  unto  Job,  the  Lord  said  to  Eliphaz 
the  Tcmanite,  My  wrath  is  kindled  against  thee,  and  against  thy^ 
ttoo  friends:  for  ye  have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  that  is  right,  as 
my  servant  Job  hath.  Therefore  take  unto  you  now  seven  bullocks 
and  seven  rams,  and  go  to  my  servant  Job,  and  offer  up  for  your- 
selves a  burnt-qffsring;  and  my  servant  Job  shall  pray  for  youyfor 
him  will  I  accept;  lest  I  deal  with  you  after  your  folly,  in  that  ye 
have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  which  is  right,  like  my  servant  Job. 
So  Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  and  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  Zophar  the 


jGO  THE  MEDIATION  OF  CHRIST  [Part  H. 

Naamathite,  loent  and  did  according  as  the  Lord  commanded  them; 
the  Lord  also  accepted  Job.*  The  objections  which  are  now 
made  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  equally  apply  to  all  expiatory  sac- 
rifices; the  offering  up  of  which,  had  not  the  former  superseded 
tbem,  would  have  continued  to  this  day. 

If  an  innocent  character  offer  to  die  in  the  room  of  a  guilty  fel- 
low-creature, it  is  not  ordinarily  accepted,  nor  would  it  be  proper 
that  it  should.  For  he  may  have  no  just  right  to  dispose  of  his 
life;  or  if  he  have,  he  has  no  power  to  resume  it:  there  may  like- 
wise be  no  such  relation  between  the  parties,  as  that  the  suffering 
of  the  one  should  express  displeasure  against  the  conduct  of  the 
other.  Besides  this,  there  may  be  no  great  and  good  end  accom- 
plished to  society  by  such  a  substitution:  the  loss  sustained  by  the 
death  of  the  one,  might  be  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  the  gain  from 
the  life  of  the  other.  If  the  evil  to  be  endured  might  be  survived: 
if  the  relation  between  the  parties  were  such,  that  in  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  one,  mankind  would  be  impressed  with  the  evil  of  the 
other;  and  if,  by  such  a  proceeding,  great  advantage  would  accrue 
to  society,  instead  of  being  accounted  inadmissible,  it  would  be 
reckoned  right,  and  wise,  and  good.  If  a  dignified  individual,  by 
enduring  some  temporary  severity  from  an  offended  nation,  could 
appease  their  displeasure,  and  thereby  save  his  country  from  the 
destroying  sword,  who  would  not  admire  his  disinterested  conduct? 
And  if  the  offended  from  motives  of  humanity,  were  contented 
with  expressing  their  displeasure,  by  transferring  the  effect  of  it 
from  a  whole  nation  to  an  individual  who  thus  stepped  forward  on 
their  behalf,  Would  their  conduct  be  censured  as  "  indiscriminate 
revenge  ?"  The  truth  is,  The  atonement  of  Christ  affords  a  dis- 
play of  Justice  on  too  large  a  scale,  and  o'n  too  humbling  a  principle, 
to  approve  itself  to  a  contracted,  selfish,  and  haughty  mind. 
*  Chap.  xlii.  7—9. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE    CONSISTF.NCY    OK    THE    SCUIPTLRE    DOCTRINE     OK    REDEMPTION 

\ 

WITH   THE  MODERN  OPINION  OF  THE  MAONITITDE  OK  CREATION 


It  is  common  for  Deists  to  impute  tlie  progress  ot'  their  princi 
pies  to  the  prevalence  of  true  philosophy.  The  world,  they  say, 
is  more  pnlightoncd  ;  and,  a  great  number  of  discoveries  are  pro- 
gressively making,  which  render  the  credibility  of  the  scriptures 
more  and  more  suspiciou';.  It  is  now  a  commonly  received  opin- 
ion, for  instance,  among  men  of  science,  that  this  world  is  but  a 
point  in  creation  ;  that  every  planet  is  a  world,  and  all  the  fixed 
stars  so  many  suns  in  the  centres  of  so  many  systems  of  worlds  ; 
and  that,  as  every  part  of  creation  within  our  knowledge  teems 
with  life,  and  as  God  has  made  nothing  in  vain,  it  is  highly  proba- 
ble that  all  these  worlds  are  inhabited  by  intelligent  beings,  who  are 
capable  of  knowing  and  adoring  their  Creator.  But  if  this  be  true, 
how  incredible  is  it  that  so  great  a  portion  of  regard  should  be  ex- 
ercised by  the  Supreme  Being  towards  man  as  the  scriptures  rep- 
resent :  how  incredible,  especially  it  must  appear  to  a  thinking 
mind,  that  Deity  should  become  incarnate,  should  take  human  na- 
ture into  the  most  intimate  union  with  himself,  and  thereby  raise 
it  to  such  singular  eminency  in  the  scale  of  being  ;  though,  com- 
pared with  the  whole  of  creation,  if  we  comprehend  even  the 
whole  species,  it  be  less  than  a  nest  of  insects  compared  with 
the  unnumbered  millions  of  animated  beings  which  inhabit  the 
earth. 

This  objection,  there  is  reason  to  think,  has  had  a  very  consid- 
erable influence  on  the  speculating  part  of  mankind.  l^Ir.  Paine, 
in  the  first  part  of  his  Ape  of  Reason,  (pp.  40 — 47.)  has  laboured, 

Vol..  III.  21 


162  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH  [Fart  11. 

after  his  manner,  to  make  the  most  of  it,  and  thereby  to  disparage 
Christianity.     "  Though  it  is  not  a  direct  article  of  the  Christian 
system,"  he  says,  "  that  this  world  which  we  inhabit  is  the  whole 
of  the  habitable  creation  ;  yet  it  is  so  worked  up  therewith,  from 
what  is  called  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation,  the  story  of  Eve 
and  the  apple,  and  the  counterpart  of  that  story — the  death  of  the 
Son  of  God,  that  to  believe  otherwise,  that  is,  to  believe  that  God 
created  a  plurality  of  worlds,  at  least  as  numerous  as  what  we  call 
stars,  renders  the  Christian  system  of  faith  at  once  little  and  ridicu- 
lous, and  scatters  it  in  the  mind  like  feathers  in  the  air.     The  two 
beliefs  cannot  be  held  together   in  the  same   mind  ;  and  he  who 
thinks  he  believes  both,  has  thought  but  little  of  either."    (p.  40.) 
Again  :  Having  discoursed   on  the  vast   extent  of  creation,   he 
asks,  "  But  in  the  midst  of  these  reflections,  what  are  we  to  think 
of  the  Christian  system  of  faith,  that  forms  itself  upon  the  idea  of 
only  one   world,   and  that  of  no  greater  extent  than  twenty-five 
thousand  miles  ?" — "  From  whence  could  arise  the  soUtary  and 
strange  conceit,  that  the  Almighty,  who  had   millions  of  worlds 
equally  dependant  on  his  protection,   should  quit  the  care  of  all 
the  rest,  and  come   to  die  in  our  world,  bucause  they  say    one 
man  and  one  woman  had  eaten  an  apple  ?     And,  on  the  other  hand, 
Are  we  to  suppose  that  every  world  in  the  boundless  creation  had 
an  Eve,  an  apple,  a  serpent,  and  a  Redeemer  ?     In  this  case,  the 
person  who  is  irreverently  called  the  Son  of  God,  and  sometimes 
God  himself,  would  have  nothing  else  to  do,   than  to  travel  from 
world  to  world,  in  an  endless  succession  of  death,  with  scarcely  a 
momentary  interval  of  life."   (p  46.) 

To  animadvert  upon  all  the  extravagant  and  offensive  things  even 
in  so  small  a  part  of  Mr.  Paine's  performance  as  the  above  quota- 
tion, would  be  an  irksome  task.  A  few  remarks,  however,  may 
not  be  improper. 

First :  Though  Mr.  Paine  is  pleased  to  say  in  his  usual  style  of 
naked  assertion,  that  "the  two  beliefs  cannot  be  held  together; 
and  that  he  who  thinks  he  believes  both,  has  thought  but  little  of 
either;"  yet  he  cannot  be  ignorant  that  many  who  have  admitted 
the  one,  have  at  the  same  time  held  fast  the  other.  Mr.  Paine  is 
certainly  not  over-loaded  with  modesty,  when  comparing  his  own 


Chapter  V.]         THE  MACiMTL'Di:  OP  CREAIION.  163 

abilities  and  acquisitions  with  those  of  oilier  men;  but  1  am  inclin- 
ed to  think,  that,  with  all  his  assurance,  he  will  not  pretend  that 
Baron,  or  Boyle,  or  Newton,  to  mention  no  more,  had  thought  but 
little  of  philosojihy  or  Christianity.  I  imagine  it  would  be  within 
the  compass  of  truth,  were  I  to  say,  that  they  bestowed  twenty 
times  more  thought  upon  these  subjects  than  ever  Mr.  Paine  did. 
Ilis  extreme  igrjorance  of  Christianity  at  least,  is  manifest,  by  the 
numerous  gross  blunders  of  which  he  has  been  detected. 

Secondly  :  Supposing  the  scripture  account  of  the  creation  to 
be  inconsistent  with  the  ideas  which  modern  philosophers  entertain 
of  its  extent ;  yet  it  is  not  what  Mr.  I'aine  represents  it.  It  cer- 
titinly  does  not  teach  ''  that  this  world  which  we  inhabit  is  the  whole 
of  the  habitable  creation."  Mr.  Paine  will  not  deny  that  it  exhib- 
its a  world  of  happiness,  and  u  world  of  misery  ;  though  in  the 
career  of  his  extravagance,  he  seems  to  have  overlooked  it. 

Thirdly  :  If  the  two  beliefs,  a?  Mr.  Paine  calls  them,  cannot  be 
consistently  held  together,  we  need  not  be  at  a  loss  to  determine 
which  to  relinquish.  All  the  reasoning  in  favour  of  a  multiplicity 
of  worlds,  inhabited  by  intelligent  beings,  amounts  to  no  more  than 
a  strong  prnbability. 

No  man  can  properly  be  said  to  believe  it :  it  is  not  a  matter  of 
laith,  but  of  opinion.  It  is  an  opinion  too  that  has  taken  place  of 
other  opinions,  which,  in  their  day,  were  admired  by  the  philo- 
sophical part  of  mankind,  as  much  as  this  is  in  ours.  Mr.  Paine 
seems  to  wish  to  have  it  thought,  that  the  doctrine  of  a  multipli- 
city of  iidiabited  worlds,  is  a  mwiii^v  oi  demonstration :  but  the 
existence  of  a  number  of  heavenly  bodies,  whose  revolutions  are 
under  the  direction  of  certain  laws,  and  whose  returns,  therefore, 
are  the  objects  of  human  calculation;  does  not  prove  that  they  are 
all  inhabited  by  intelligent  beings.  I  do  not  deny,  that  from  •ther 
considerations,  the  thing  may  be  highly  probable  ;  but  it  is  no 
more  than  a  probability.  Now,  before  we  give  up  a  doctrine, 
which,  if  it  were  even  to  prove  fallacious,  has  no  dangerous  con- 
sequences attending  it  ;  and  which,  if  it  should  be  found  a  truth, 
involves  our  eternal  salvation,  we  should  endeavour  to  have  a 
more  <olid  ground  than  mere  opinion,  on  which  to  take  our  stand. 


1(64  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH  fPARt  IL 

But  I  do  not  wish  to  avail  myself  of  these  observations,  as  I  am 
under  no  apprehensions  that  the  cause  in  which  I  engage  requires 
them.      Admitting    that    the    intelligent    creation     is     as 

EXTENSIVE  AS  MODERN  PHILOSOPHY  SUPPOSES,  THE  CREDIBILITY 
OF  REDEMPTION  IS  NOT  THEREBY  WEAKENED  ;  BUT,  ON  THE  CON- 
TRARY, IN  MANY  RESPECTS,    IS   STRENGTHENED     AND    AGGRANDIZED. 

I  shall  offer  a  few  observations  on  each  of  the  branches  of  the 
above  position. 

The  scripture  doctrine  of  redemption,  it  is  acknowledged,  sup- 
poses that  man,  mean  and  little  as  he  is  in  the  scale  of  being,  has 
occupied  a  peculiar  portion  of  the  divine  regard.  It  requires  to 
be  noticed,  however,  that  the  enemies  of  revelation,  in  order  it 
should  seem  to  give  the  greater  force  to  their  objection,  diminish 
the  importance  of  man,  as  a  creature  of  God,  beyond  what  its 
friends  can  admit.  Though  Mr.  Paine  expresses  his  '=  hope  of 
happiness  beyond  this  life  ;"  and  though  some  other  deistical  wri- 
ters have  admitted  the  immortality  of  the  soul  ;  yet  this  is  more 
than  others  of  them  will  allow.  The  hope  of  a  future  state,  as 
we  have  seen,  is  objected  to  by  many  of  them,  as  a  stljish  prin- 
ciple ;  and  others  of  them  have  attempted  to  hold  it  up  to  rid- 
icule. But  the  immortality  of  man  is  a  doctrine  which  redemp- 
tion supposes  ;  and,  if  this  be  allowed,  man  is  not  so  insignificant 
a  being  as  they  might  wish  to  consider  him.  A  being  that  pos- 
sesses an  immortal  mind,  a  mind  capable  of  increasing  knowledge, 
and,  consequently  of  increasing  happiness  or  misery,  in  an  endless 
duration,  cannot  be  insignificant.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  that 
the  salvation  of  one  soul,  according  to  the  scriptural  account  of 
things,  is  of  inconceivably  greater  moment  than  the  temporal  sal- 
vation of  a  nation,  or  of  all  the  nations  in  the  world,  for  ten  thou- 
sand ages.  The  eternal  salvation,  therefore,  of  a  number  of  lost 
dinners,  which  no  man  can  number,  however  it  may  be  a  matter 
of  infinite  condescension  in  the  great  Supreme  to  accomplish,  is 
not  an  object  for  creatures,  even  the  most  exalted,  to  consider  as 
of  small  account. 

Having  premised  thus  much,  I  shall  proceed,  in  the  first  place, 
to  offer  a  few  observations  in  proof  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 


ChaptekV.]  the  magnitude  of  creation.  165 

scriptire    doctrine    of  redkmftion,  which  is   inconsistent 
with  thk  modern  opinion  of  the  magnitude  of  creation. 

1 .  Let  creation  be  as  extensive  as  it  may,  and  the  number  of 
worlds  be  multiplied  to  the  utmost  boundnnj  to  which  imagination 
can  reach,  there  is  no  proof  that  any  of  them,  except  men  and  an- 
gelt,  have  apostatized  from  God.  If  our  world  be  only  a  small 
province,  so  to  speak,  of  God's  vast  empire,  there  is  reason  to 
hope  that  it  is  the  only  part  of  it  wiicre  sin  has  entered,  except 
among  the  fallen  angels,  and  that  the  endless  myriads  of  intelligent 
beings  in  other  world?,  are  all  the  hearty  friends  of  virtue,  of  or- 
der, and  of  God. 

If  this  be  true,  (and  there  is  nothing  in  philosophy  or  divinity  I 
believe  to  discredit  it,)  then  Mr.  Paine  need  not  have  supposed,  if 
hecocdd  have  suppressed  the  pleasure  of  the  witticism,  that  the 
Son  of  God  would  have  to  travel  from  world  to  world  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  Redeemer. 

2.  Let  creation  be  ever  so  extensive,  there  is  nothing  inconsistent 
with  7-eason  in  supposing  that  some  one  particular  part  of  it  should 
be  chosen  out  from  the  rest,  as  a  theatre  on  tohich  the  great  Author 
of  all  things  would  perform  his  mof^t  glorious  works.  Every  em- 
pire that  lias  been  founded  in  this  world,  has  had  some  one  partic- 
ular spot  where  those  actions  wore  performed  from  whence  its 
glory  has  arisen.  The  glory  of  the  Caesars  was  founded  on  the 
event  of  a  battle  fought  near  a  very  inconsiderable  city  :  and  why 
might  not  this  world,  though  less  than  "  twenty-five  thousand 
miles  in  circumfLrence,"  be  chosen  as  the  theatre  on  which  God 
would  bring  about  events  that  should  fill  his  whole  empire  with 
glory  and  joy  ?  It  would  be  as  reasonable  to  plead  the  insignifi- 
cance of  Actiiirn  or  Agincourt,  in  objection  to  the  competency  of 
the  victories  there  obtained  (supposing  them  to  have  been  on  the 
side  of  righteousness)  to  fill  the  respective  empires  of  Rome  and 
Britain  with  glory,  as  that  of  our  world  to  fill  the  whole  empire  of 
God  with  matter  of  joy  and  everlasting  praise.  The  truth  is,  the 
comparative  dimensions  of  our  world  is  of  no  account.  If  it  be 
large  enough  for  the  accomplishment  of  events  which  are  sufficient 
to  occupy  the  minds  of  all  intclligencies,  that  is  all  that  is  required. 


166  REDEMpTIOxN  CONSISTENT  WITH  [-Part  II. 

3.  If  any  one  part  of  God's  creation,  rather  than  another,  pos- 
sessed a  superior  fitness  to  become  a  theatre  on  which  he  might  dis- 
play his  glory,  it  should  seem  to  be  that  part  where  the  greatest  ef- 
forts had  been  made  to  dishonour  him.     A  rebellious   province   in 

an  empire  would  be  the  fittest  place  in  it  to  display  the  justice, 
goodness,  and  benignity  of  a  government.  Here  would  naturally 
be  erected  the  banner  of  righteousness  ;  here  the  war  would  be 
carried  on  ;  here  pardons  and  punishments  to  different  characters 
would  be  awarded  ;  and  here  the  honours  of  the  government 
would  be  established  on  such  a  basis,  that  the  remotest  parts  of 
the  empire  might  hear  and  fear,  and  learn  obedience.  The  part 
that  is  diseased,  whether  in  the  body  natural  or  the  body  politic, 
is  the  part  to  which  the  remedy  is  directed.  Let  there  be  what 
number  of  worlds  there  may,  full  of  intelligent  creatures  ;  yet  if 
there  be  but  one  world  which  is  guilty  and  miserable,  thither  will 
be  directed  the  operations  of  mercy.  The  good  shepherd  of  the 
sheep  will  leave  the  ninety  and  nine  in  the  wilderness,  and  seek 
and  save  that  which  is  lost. 

4.  3'Ae  events  brought  to  pass  in  this  world,  little  and  insignifi- 
cant as  it  may  be,  are  competent  to  fill  all  and  every  part  of  God's 
dominions  with  everlasting  and  increasing  joy.  Mental  enjoyment 
differs  widely  from  corporeal :  the  beslowment  of  the  one  upon 
a  great  number  of  objects  is  necessarily  attended  with  a  division 
of  it  into  parts  ;  and  those  who  receive  a  share  of  it,  diminish  the 
quantity  remaining  for  others  that  come  after  them  ;  but  not  so 
the  other.  An  intellectual  object  requires  only  to  be  known,  and 
it  is  equally  capable  of  affording  enjoyment  to  a  million  as  to  an 
individual,  to  a  world  as  to  those,  and  to  the  whole  universe,  be  it 
ever  so  extensive,  as  to  a  world.  If,  as  the  scripture  inform  us, 
God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  spirit,  seen  of  angels, 
preached  unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world,  and  received  up 
into  glory  ;  if  there  be  enough  in  this  mysterious  transaction  to 
fill  with  joy  the  hearts  of  all  who  believe  it ;  if  it  be  so  interes- 
ting that  the  most  exalted  intelligences  become  comparatively  in- 
different to  every  other  object,  desiring  to  look  into  it ;  then  is  it 
sufficient  iofill  all  things,  and  to  exhibit  the  divine  glory  in  allpla- 
ces  of  his  dominion.* 

*IPet.  i.  12.        Fphes.iv,  10.        Psa.  ciii.  22. 


Chapter  v.]  THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  CREATION.  |67 

Air.  Piiine  allows  that  it  is  in)t  a  direct  article  of  the  Christian 
system  that  there  is  not  a  plurality  of  inhabited  worlds;  yet,  he 
affirms,  it  is  fo  zcorked  up  with  the  scripture  account,  that  to 
believe  the  latter  we  must  relinguish  the  former,  as  little  and 
ridiculous. 

The  scriptures,  it  is  true,  do  not  teach  the  doctrine  of  a  multi- 
tude of  inhabited  worlds  :  but  neither  do  they  teach  tlie  contrary. 
Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  forms  any  part  of  their  design.  The 
object  they  keep  in  view,  though  Mr.  Paine  may  term  it,  "  little 
and  ridiculous,"  is  inlinilely  superior  to  this,  both  as  to  utility  and 
magnitude.  They  were  not  given  to  teach  us  astronomy,  or  geogra- 
phy, or  civil  government,  or  any  science  which  relates  to  the  pres- 
ent life  only  ;  therefore  they  do  not  determine  upon  any  system  of 
any  of  these  sciencies.  These  are  things  upon  which  reason  is  com- 
petent to  judge,  sufficiently  at  least  for  all  the  purposes  of  human 
life,  without  a  revelation  from  heaven.  The  great  object  of  rev- 
elation is,  to  instruct  us  in  things  whfch  pertain  to  our  everlasting 
peace  ;  and  as  to  other  things,  even  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  might- 
iest empires,  they  are  only  toucheil  in  an  incidental  manner,  as  the 
mention  of  them  might  be  necessary  to  higher  purposes.  The 
great  empires  of  Babylon,  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome,  are  pre- 
dicted and  described  in  the  scriptures,  by  the  rising  and  ravaging 
of  so  many  beasts  of  prey.  Speaking  of  the  European  part  of  the 
earth,  which  was  inhabited  by  the  posterity  of  Japheth,  they  do 
not  go  about  to  give  an  exact,  geographical  description  of  it  ;  but 
by  a  synecdoche,  call  it  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  ;*  and  this,  as  I 
suppose,  because  its  eastern  boundary,  the  Archipelago,  or  Gre- 
cian Islands,  were  situated  contiguous  to  the  Holy  Land.  And 
thus  when  speaking  of  the  whole  creation,  they  call  it  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  as  being  the  whole  that  comes  within  the  reach  of 
our  senses. 

It  is  no  dishonour  to  the  scriptures  that  they  keep  to  their  pro- 
fessed end.  Though  they  give  us  no  system  of  astronomy  ;  yet 
they  urge  us  to  study  the  works  of  God,  and  teach  us  to  adore  him 
upon  every  discovery.     Though  they  give  us  no  system  of  geog- 

*  Gen.  X.  5.      Isa.  xlix.  1. 


168  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH  [I'art  I[. 

raphy,  yet  they  encourage  us  to  avail  ourselves  of  observation  and 
experience  to  obtain  one ;  seeing  the  whole  earth  is  in  prophecy 
given  to  the  Me.*siah,  and  is  marked  out  as  the  field  in  which  his 
servants  are  to  labour.  Though  they  determine  not  upon  any 
mode  or  system  of  civil  governments,  yet  they  teach  obedience 
in  civil  matters,  to  all.  And  though  their  attention  be  mainly 
directed  to  things  which  pertain  to  the  life  to  come  ;  yet,  by 
attending  to  their  instructions,  we  are  also  fitted  for  the  labours 
and  sufferings  of  the  present  life. 

The  scriptures  are  written  in   a  popular  style,  as  best  adapted 
to  their  great  end.     If  the  salvation  of  philosophers  only  had  been 
their  object,  the  language  might  possibly  have  been  somewhat  dif- 
ferent ;  though  even  this  may  be  a  matter  of  doubt,  since  the  style 
IS  suited  to  the  subject,  and  to  the  great  end  which  they  had  in 
view  :  but,  being  addressed  to  men  of  eveiy  degree,  it  was  highly 
proper  that  the  language  should  be  fitted  to  every  capacity,  and 
suited  to  their  common  modes  of  conception.     They  speak  of  the 
foundations  of  the  earth,  the  ends  of  the  earth,  the  greater  and  lesser 
lights  in  the  heavens,   the  sun  rising,  standing  still,   and  going 
down,  and  many  other  things  in  the  same  way.     If  deists  object  to 
these  modes  of  speaking,  as  conveying  ideas  which  are  inconsist- 
ent with  the  true  theory  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  let  them,  if 
they  can,    substitute   others  which   are  consistent:  let  them,  in 
their  common  conversation,  when  describing  the  revolutions  of 
evening  and  morning,  speak  of  the  earth  as  rising  and  going  down, 
instead  of  the  sun  ;  and  the  same  with  regard  to  the  revolutions 
of  the  planets  ;  and  see  if  men,  in  common,  will  better  understand 
them,  or  whether  they  would  be  able  even  to  understand  one 
another.     The  popular  ideas  on  these  subjects  are  as  much  "  work- 
ed up"  in  the  common  conversation  of  philosophers,  as  they  are 
in  the  scriptures  :  and  the  constant  use  of  such  language,  even  by 
philosophers   themselves,  in   common   conversation,    sufficiently 
proves  the  futility  and  unfairness  of  their  objecting  to  revelation 
on  this  account. 

By  the  drift  of  Mr.  Taine's  writing,  he  seems  to  wish  to  convey 
the  idea,  that  so  contracted  were  the  views  of  the  scriptural  wri- 
ters, that  even  the  glohularity  of  the  earth  was  unknown  to  them. 


Chaptkr  v.]  TIIK  magnitude  OF  CllKATION.  itjc, 

If,  however,  such  a  sentence  ns  that  of  Job,  Ik  hangcth  the  earth 
upon  nothings*  had  been  found  in  ;my  of  the  old  heathen  writers, 
he  would  readily  have  concluded  that  "  this  idea  was  familiar  to 
the  ancients."  Or  if  a  heathen  poet  had  uttered  such  language  as 
that  of  Isaiah,  Behold,  (he  nations  arc  as  a  drop  of  a  bucket,  and 
are  counted  as  the  fonal/  dust  of  the  balance  ;  behold,  he  taketh  up 
the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing :  All  nations  before  Him  are  as  noth- 
ing ;  and  they  are  counted  to  Him  less  than  nothing  and  vanity : — 
he  might  have  been  applauded  an  possessing  a  mind  as  large,  and 
nearly  as  well  informed,  as  the  geniuses  of  modern  times.  But 
the  truth  is,  the  scriptural  writers  were  not  intent  on  displaying 
the  greatness  of  their  own  conceptions,  nor  even  of  creation  itself; 
but  rather  of  the  glory  of  Him  whojilleih  all  in  all. 

The  foregoing  observations  may  suffice  to  remove  Mr.  Paine's 
objection  ;  but,  if  in  addition  to  them,  it  can  be  proved,  that  upon 
the  supposition  of  a  great  number  of  inhabited  worlds,  Christianity, 
mstead  of  appearing  "  little  and  ridiculous,"  is  the  more  enlarged, 
and  that  some  of  its  difficulties  are  more  easily  accounted  for,  this 
will  be  still  more  satisfactory.  Let  us  therefore  proceed,  Secondly, 
to  offer  evidence  that  thk  Christian  doctrine  op  redemption 

IS  STRENGTHENED  AND  AGGRANDIZED  BY  THE  SUPPOSED  MAGNITUDE 
OF  CREATION. 

1.  The  Scripture  teaches  that  God's  regard  to  man  is  an  aston- 
ishing instance  of  condescension,  and  that  on  account  of  the  dispar- 
ity between  him  and  the  celestial  creation. — "  When  I  consider  thy 
heavens,'''  saith  David,  "  the  work  of  thy  fingers,  the  moon  and  the 
stars  which  thou  hast  ordained;  what  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of 
him;  and  the  son  of  man  that  thou  visiteth  him?''  ^^IVillGodin 
very  deed,''''  says  Solomon,  *'  dwell  with  men  upon  the  earth  ?"t 

^  Chap,  xxvi.7. 

+  Psa.  viii.  3, 4.  2  Chron.  vi.  18.  In  this  part  of  the  subject  considerable 
use  is  made  of  the  scriptures;  but  it  is  only  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
what  the  Christian  doctrine  of  redemption  is  :  and  this  i.«  undoubtedly  consis- 
tent with  every  rule  of  just  reasoning,  as  whether  Ihev  be  true  or  false,  they 
are  the  standard  by  which  (his  doctrine  is  to  be  measured. 

Vol.  III.  22 


170  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH  [Part  II. 

The  divine  condescension  towards  man  is  a  (ruth  upon  any  sys- 
tem ;  but  upon  the  supposition  of  the  heavenly  bodies  being  so 
many  inhabited  worlds,  it  is  a  truth  full  of  amazement,  and  the 
foregoing  language  of  David  and  Solomon  is  forcible  beyond  all 
conception.  The  idea  of  him  who  upholds  a  universe  of  such  ex- 
tent hy  the  word  of  his  power  becoming  incarnate,  residing  with 
men,  and  setting  up  his  kingdom  among  them,  that  he  might  raise 
them  to  eternal  glory,  as  much  surpasses  all  philosophy  calls  great 
and  noble,  as  the  Creator  supasses  the  work  of  his  hands. 

2.  The  scriptures  inform  us,  that  before  creation  was  begun,  our 
world  was  marked  out  by  eternal  wisdom,  as  the  theatre  of  its  joy- 
ful operations.  This  idea  is  forcibly  expressed  in  the  eighth 
chapter  of  Proverbs  :  Before  the  mountains  were  settled,  before  the 
hills,  was  I  brought  forth:  while'as  yet  he  had  not  made  the  earth,  nor 
the  fields,  nor  the  highest  part  of  the  dust  of  the  icorld.  When  he 
prepared  the  heavens,  I  was  there  ;  when  he  set  a  compass  upon  the 
face  of  the  depth  ;  when  he  established  the  clouds  above  ;  when  he 
strengthened  the  fountains  of  the  deep  ;  when  he  gave  to  the  sea 
his  decree,  that  the  waters  shotild  not  pass  his  commandment ;  when 
he  appointed  the  foundations  of  the  earth :  then  1 7cas  by  him,  as 
one  brought  tip  with  him  :  and  I  was  daily  his  delight,  rejoicing  al- 
ways before  him  ;  rejocing  in  the  habitable  part  of  his  earth  ;  and 
my  delights  ivere  with  the  sons  of  men. 

On  this  interesting  passage  I  shall  offer  a  few  remarks.  First : 
Among  the  variety  of  objects  which  are  here  specified  as  the 
works  of  God,  the  earth  is  mentioned  as  being,  in  a  sort,  his  pecu- 
liar property.  Doubtless  the  whole  creation  is  the  Lord's  ;  but 
none  of  his  other  works  are  here  claimed  as  his  own,  in  the  man- 
ner that  the  earth  is.  it  is  called  his  earth.  And  this  seems  to 
intimate  a  design  of  rendering  it  the  grand  theatre  on  which  his 
greatest  work  should  be  performed  ;  a  work  that  should  fill  all  cre- 
ation with  joy  and  wonder.  Secondly  :  The  wisdom  of  God  is 
described  as  rejoicing  in  the  contemplation  of  this  part  of  the  cre- 
ation. Whether  wisdotn  in  this  passage  be  understood  of  the 
promised  Messiah,  or  of  a  divine  attribute  personified,  it  makes  no 
difference  as  to  the  argument.  Allow  it  to  mean  the  latter  ;  and 
that  the  rejoicing  of  wisdom  is  a  figurative  mode  of  speaking,  like 


Chapter  \.]        THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  CREATION.  ]'Ji 

that  of  mercy  rejnifing  against  judgment  :*  still,  redemption  by  Je- 
sus Clirist  is  the  object  concerning  which  it  was  exercised  :  noth- 
ing less  can  be  intimated  than  this,  t'lat  the  earth  was  the  place 
marked  out  by  Kternal  Wisdom  as  the  theatre  of  its  joyful  opera- 
tions. Thirdly  :  The  habitable  part  of  the  earth  was  more; 
especially  the  object  of  Wisdom's  joyful  contemplation.  The 
abodes  of  men,  which  through  sin  had  become  scenes  of  abom- 
ination, were,  by  the  inlerposiiion  of  the  Mediator,  to  become 
the  abodes  of  righteousness.  Here  the  serpent's  head  was 
(o  be  bruised,  his  schemes  confounded,  and  his  works  destroyed  : 
and  that  by  the  woman's  seed,  the  human  nature,  which  he  had 
despised  and  degraded.  Here  atrophy  was  to  be  raised  in  glory 
of  sovereign  grace,  and  millions  of  souls,  delivered  from  everlasting 
destruction,  were  to  present  an  offering  of  praise  to  Him  that  lov' 
ed  them,  and  washed  them  from  their  sins  in  his  own  blood.  Here, 
m  a  word,  tlie  peculiar  glory  of  the  Godhead  was  to  be  displayed 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  afford  a  lesson  of  joyful  amazement  to  the 
whole  creation,  throughout  ullages  of  time,  yea,  world  without 
end  !\  Lastly  :  Not  only  were  the  abodes  of  man  contemplated 
with  rejoicings  but  the  sons  of  men  themselves  regarded  with 
delight.  The  operations  of  Eternal  Wisdom  were  directed  to 
their  salvation  :  and  their  salvation  was  appointed  to  become,  in 
return,  a  mirror  in  which  the  whole  creation  should  behold  the 
operations  of  Eternal  Wisdom.  This  expressive  passage  contains 
a  fullness  of  meaning,  let  the  extent  of  the  intelligent  creation  be 
what  it  may:  butif  it  be  of  that  extent  which  modern  philosophy 
supposes,  it  contains  a  greater  fullness  still.  It  perfectly  accords 
with  all  those  ideas  suggested  of  this  earth  being  the  chosen  thea- 
tre, upon  which  events  should  be  brought  to  pass  that  shall  till  cre- 
ation with  everlasting  joy  ;  and  well  they  may,  if  the  prospect 
of  them  rejoiced  even  the  heart  of  God. 

3.  The  mediation  of  Christ  is  represented,  in  scripture,  as  bring- 
ing the  whole  creation  into  union  with  the  church  or  people  of  God. 
in  the  dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  times,  it  is  said  that  God 
fvould  gather  together  in  one  all  things  in  Christ,  both  lohich  are  in 

"  James  ii.  H.        +  Ephc.  iii.  21. 


172  REDEMPTION  CONSIbTENT  WITH  [Part  II. 

heaven,  and  which  are  on  earth,  even  in  him*  Again;  It  pleased 
the  Father  that  in  him  should  all  fulness  dwell;  and  (having  made 
peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross)  by  him  to  reconcile  all  things 
unto  himself  by  him,  I  say,  whether  things  in  heaven.] 

The  language  here  used,  supposes  that  the  introduction  of  sin 
has  effected  a  disunion  between  men  and  the  other  parts  of  God's 
creation.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  it  should  be  so.  If  a  province 
of  a  great  empire  rise  up  in  rebellion  against  the  lawful  govern- 
ment, all  communication  between  the  inhabitants  of  such  provin- 
ces, and  the  faithful  adherents  to  order  and  obedience,  must  be 
at  an  end.  A  line  of  separation  would  be  iinmediateiy  drawn  by 
the  sovereign,  and  all  intercourse  between  the  one  and  the  other 
prohibited.  Nor  would  it  less  accord  with  the  inclination  than 
with  the  duty  of  all  the  friends  of  righteousness  to  withdraw 
their  connexion  from  those  who  were  in  rebellion  against  the 
supreme  authority,  and  the  general  good.  It  must  have  been  thus 
with  regard  to  the  holy  angels,  on  man's  apostacy.  Those  who  at 
the  creation  of  our  world  had  sung  together,  and  even  shouted  for 
joy,  would  now  retire  in  disgust  and   holy  indignation. 

But,  through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  a  re-union  is  effected. 
By  the  blood  pf  the  cross  we  have  peace  with  God  ;  and,  being 
reconciled  to  him,  are  united  to  all  who  love  him  throughout  the 
whole  extent  of  creation.  If  Paul  could  address  the  Corinthians, 
concerning  one  of  their  excluded  members,  who  had  been  brought 
to  repentance,  To  whom  ye  forgive  any  thing,  I  also ;  much  more 
would  the  friends  of  righteousness  say  in  their  addresses  to  the 
great  Supreme,  concerning  an  excluded  member  from  the  moral 
system.  To  whom  Thou  forgivest  any  thing,  we  also !  Hence 
angels  acknowledge  Christians  as  brethren,  and  become  minister- 
ing spirits  to  them  while  inhabitants  of  the  present  world. | 

There  is  another  consideration  which  must  tend  to  cement  the 
holy  part  of  God's  creation  to  the  church  ;  which  is,  their  being 
all  united  under  one  head.  A  central  point  of  union  has  a  great 
effect  in  cementing  mankind.  We  see  this  every  day  in  people 
who  sit  under  the  same  ministry,  or  serve  under  the  same  com- 

*Ephes.  i.  10.        t  Col.  i.  19,  20-         t  Rev.  xix.  10.    Heb.  i.  14. 


f'uAPTER  v.]  TIIK  .MAGNITUDE  OF  CRKATIO.N.  173 

inander,  or  are  subjects  of  tbe  same  prince  :  whetlier  minister, 
<j;ener;il,  or  prince,  if  they  love  him,  they  will  be,  more  or  less, 
united  together  under  him. 

Now,  it  is  a  part  of  the  reward  of  our  Redeemer,  fur  his  great, 
humiliation,  that  he  should  be  exalted  a?  head  over  the  whole 
creation  of  CJod.  Bein^  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  lie  humbled 
himself y  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross. 
Wherefore  God  also  hath  highly  exhalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name 
which  is  above  every  name  :  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knet 
should  bozv,  of  heavenly  beings,  of  earthly,  and  of  those  under  the 
earth. — lie  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  poxaer. — God  raised 
him  from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at  his  oa-n  right  hand  in  the  heavenly 
places,  far  above  all  principality  and  power,  and  might,  and  domin- 
ion, and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also 
in  that  which  is  to  come  :  and  put  all  things  under  his  feet ;  and 
gave  him  to  be  the  head  over  all  things  to  the  churchy  which  is  his 
body,  the  fullness  of  him  thatfilleth  all  in  all.* 

These  passages,  it  is  true,  represent  the  dominion  of  Christ  as 
extending  over  the  whole  creation,  enemies  as  well  as  friends,  and 
things  as  well  as  persons.  But  if  the  very  enemies  of  God  are 
caused  to  subserve  the  purposes  of  redemption,  much  more  hi.*? 
friends  ;  what  the  others  do  by  constraint,  these  do  willingly ;  and 
the  consideration  of  their  having  one  head,  must  make  them  feel, 
QS  it  were,  neirer  akin.  And,  as  Christ  is  head  over  all  things  to 
the  church,  zihich  is  his  body,  it  is  hereby  intimated,  that  the  hap- 
piness of  the  «:hurch  is  by  these  means  abundantly  enlarged. 

To  what  extent  creation  reaches,  I  do  not  pretend  to  know  :  be 
that  however  what  it  may,  the  foregoing  passages  teach  us  to  con- 
sider the  influence  of  redemption  as  commensurate  with  it  ;  and 
in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  one,  such  must  be  tbe  influ- 
ence of  the  other,  as  to  the  accomplishment  of  re-union  and  the 
restoration  of  happiness. 

4.  Through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  not  only  is  the  whole  creation 
represented  as  augmenting  the  blcssedriess  of  the  church;  but  the 
church  as  augmenting  the  blessedness  of  thr  whole  creation.     As  one 

*  Phil.  ji.  8—10.     Col.  ii.  10.      Ephes.  i.  '20—22. 


174  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH  [Part  II. 

member,  be  it  ever  so  small,  cannot  suffer  without  the  whole 
body,  in  some  degree,  suffering  with  it ;  so  if  we  consider  our 
world  as  a  member  of  the  great  body  or  system  of  being,  it  might 
naturally  be  supposed  that  the  ill  or  well-being  of  the  former 
would,  in  some  measure,  effect  the  happiness  of  the  latter.  The 
fall  of  a  planet  from  its  orbit  in  the  solar  system,  would  probably 
have  a  less  effect  upon  the  other  planets,  than  that  of  man  from 
the  moral  system  upon  the  other  parts  of  God's  intelligent  crea- 
tion. And,  when  it  is  considered,  that  man  is  a  member  of  the 
body,  disiinguished  by  sovereign  favour,  as  possessing  a  nature 
which  the  Son  of  God  delighted  to  honour,  by  taking  it  upon  him- 
himself,  the  interest  which  the  universe  at  large  may  have  in  his 
fall  and  recovery  may  be  greatly  augmented.  The  leprosy  of 
Miriam  was  an  event  that  affected  the  whole  camp  of  Israel ;  nor 
did  they  proceed  on  their  journeys  till  she  was  restored  to  her 
situation  :  and  it  is  not  unnatural  to  suppose,  that  something  analo- 
gous to  this  would  be  the  effect  of  the  fall  and  recovery  of  man  on 
the  whole  creation. 

The  happiness  of  the  redeemed  is  not  the  ultimate  end  of 
redemption  ;  nor  the  only  happiness  which  will  be  produced  by 
it.  God  is  represented  in  the  scriptures  as  conferring  his  favours 
in  such  a  way  as  that  no  creature  shall  be  blessed  merely  for  his 
own  sake,  but  that  he  might  communicate  his  blessedness  to  others. 
With  whatever  powers,  talents,  or  advantages  we  are  endued,  it 
is  not  merely  for  our  gratification,  but  that  we  may  contribute  to 
the  general  good.  God  gives  discernment  to  the  eye,  speech  to 
the  tongue,  strength  to  the  arm,  and  agility  to  the  feet ;  not  for 
the  gratitication  of  these  members,  but  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  body.  It  is  the  same  in  other  things.  God  blessed  Abraham  ; 
and  wherefore  ?  That  he  might  be  a  blessing.  He  blessed  his 
posterity  after  him  ;  and  for  what  purpose  ?  That  in  them  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  might  be  blessed.*  Though  Israel  was  a 
nation  chosen  and  beloved  of  God ;  yet  it  was  not  for  their  right- 
eousness, nor  merely  with  a  view  to  their  happiness  that  they 
were  thus  distinguished  :  but  that  he  might  perform  the  oath  which 

*  Gen.  xii.  2.  xxii.  18. 


CHArTER  \.J         rHE  MACNI'IUDK  OF  CREATION.  175 

he  rxare  unto  their  fathers  :*  th»?  suhstnnre  ot"  which  was,  that  the 
true  ri'Ii«'ion  should  prosper  amonc;  Ihcm,  mid  be  rommunicated 
by  thc'in  to  all  other  nations.  The  uii!;oi1ly  part  of  the  Jewisli 
nation  viewed  thinixs,  it  is  trne,  in  a  different  lisjht :  they  valued 
thcm»el\es  as  the  favonrilcsi  of  heaven,  and  looked  down  upon 
other  nations  with  contemptuous  dislike.  But  it  was  otherwise 
with  the  godly  :  they  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  promise  made 
to  their  father*.  Hence  they  prayed  that  (r'oJ  xvnuUl  lie  merciful 
to  them,  and  bless  them,  and  cause  his  face  to  shine  upon  them;  to 
the   end  that  his  w.w  mi<;ht  be  known  upon   kartii,   and  mis 

S  AVINC.   HEALTH   AMONG  ALL  NATlO.NS.t 

The  same  spirit  was  manifested  by  the  apostles  and  primitive 
Christians.  They  perceived  tiiat  all  that  rich  measure  of  gifts 
and  graces  by  which  they  were  distinguished,  was  given  them  with 
the  design  of  their  communicating  it  to  others  ;  and  this  wa.s  their 
constant  aim.  Paul  felt  himself  a  debtor  both  to  .Tews  and  Greeks, 
.ind  spent  bis  life  in  diffusing  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  though 
in  return  bo  was  continually  treated  as  an  evil  doer  ;  and  the  same 
migiit  be  said  of  the  other  apostles. 

Nor  is  this  social  principle  confined  to  the  present  life.  According 
to  scripture  representations,  the  happiness  of  saints  in  glory  will  be 
conferred  on  them,  not  that  it  might  stop  there,  but  be  communi- 
cated to  the  whole  moral  system.  The  redemption  of  the  church 
has  already  added  to  the  blessedness  of  other  holy  intelligences. 
It  has  furnished  a  new  medium  by  which  tlie  glory  of  the  divine 
perfection.^  is  beheld  and  admired.  To  explore  the  wisdom  of 
God  in  his  works  is  the  constant  employment  of  holy  angels,  and 
that  in  which  consists  a  large  proportion  of  their  felicity.  Prior 
to  the  accomplishment  of  the  work  of  redemption  they  contem- 
plated the  divine  character  through  the  medium  of  creation  and 
providence  ;  but  now  ttnto  principalities  and  pozcers,  m  heavenly 
places,  is  knoren,  by  thk  churc  h,  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God.\ 
And  so  much  does  this  last  display  of  divine  glory  exceed  all  that 
have  gone  before  it.  that  thosr  who  have  once  ohtainetl  a  view  of 
it  through  this  medium,  will  certainly  prefer  it  to  every  other  : 

"    Deut.  ix.  3.  vii.  7,  C.         t  I'sa.  Ixvii.  t  Ephcs.  iii.  10 


176  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH  [Part  H. 

Which  thitigs  the  angels  desire  to  look  into.*  They  do  not,  how- 
ever, become  indifferent  to  any  of  the  divine  operations:  creation 
and  providence  continue  to  attract  their  attention,  and  are  abun- 
dantly more  interesting :  they  now  study  them  according  to  the 
order  in  which  they  exist  in  the  divine  mind,  that  is,  in  subser- 
viency to  redemption.! 

But  that  which  is  already  accomplished  is  but  small  in  compari- 
son of  what  is  in  reserve.  At  the  final  judgment,  when  all  the 
faithful  will  be  collected  together,  they  will  become  a  medium 
through  which  the  Lord  Jesus  will  be  glorified  and  admired,  by 
the  whole  creation  :  He  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints ; 
and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that  believe — in  that  day.'\.  It  is  a 
truth  that  the  saints  of  God  will  themselves  glorify  and  admire 
their  great  deliverer,  but  not  the  truth  of  this  passage  ;  the  design 
of  which  is  to  represent  them  as  a  medium  through  which  he 
shall  be  glorified  by  all  the  friends  of  God  in  the  universe.  The 
great  physician  will  appear  with  his  recovered  millions  ;  every 
one  of  whom  will  afford  evidence  of  his  disinterested  love,  and 
efficacious  blood,  to  the  whole  admiring  creation. 

Much  the  same  ideas  are  conveyed  to  us  by  those  representa- 
tions in  which  the  whole  creation  are  either  called  upon  to  rejoice 
on  account  of  our  redemption,  or  described  as  actually  rejoicing 
and  praising  the  Redeemer.  Thus  David,  having  spoken  of  God's 
mercy  which  was  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  towards  the 
children  of  men,  addresses  all  his  works,  in  all  places  of  his 
DOMINION,  to  bless  his  name.^  John  also  informs  us  saying,  I  heard 
the  voice  of  many  angels  round  about  the  throne,  and  the  living  crea- 
tures, and  the  elders :  and  the  number  of  them  was  ten  thousand 
times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  tiiojisands  ;  saying  with  a  loud 
voice,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and 
riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  bles- 
sing. And  every  creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth, 
and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in 
them,  heard  I  saying,  Blessing  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power, 

*  1  Pet.  i.  12.         t  Col.  i.  16,  by  him,  and  for  him.         J  2  Thes.  i.  10. 
i  Psa.  ciii.  17—22. 


Chapter  v.]         THi:  MAGNITUDK  OF  CRLATION.  177 

be  unto  him  that  siKelh  upon  (lie  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever 
and  ever.* 

The  phraseology  of  these  passages  is  such,  that  no  one  can  rea- 
sonably doubt  whether  the  writers  intended  to  express  the  whole 
upright  intelligent  creation,  be  it  of  what  extent  it  may  :  and  if  it 
be  of  that  extent  which  philosophy  sujjpose;;,  the  greater  must  bo 
the  influence  and  importance  of  the  work  of  redemption. 

5.  The  scriptures  giro  its  to  expect  that  the  earth  itself.,  as  well 
as  its  redeemed  inhabitants,  shall  at  a  future  period  be  purified,  and 
reunited  to  the  holy  empire  of  God. — We  are  taught  to  pray,  and 
consequently  to  hope,  that  when  the  kingdom  of  God  shall  uni- 
versally prevail,  A/s  will  shall  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  now  in 
heavenA  but  if  so,  earth  itself  must  become,  as  it  were,  a  part  of 
heaven. 

That  we  may  form  a  clear  and  comprehensive  view  of  our 
Lord's  words,  and  of  this  part  of  the  subject,  be  it  observed,  that 
the  scriptures  sometimes  distinguish  between  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  that  of  Christ.  Though  the  object  of  both  be  the  triumph  of 
truth  and  righteousness,  yet  the  mode  of  administration  is  differ- 
ent. The  one  is  natural,  the  other  delegated  :  the  latter  is  in  sub- 
serviency to  the  former,  and  shall  be  linally  succeeded  by  it. 
Christ  is  represented  as  acting  in  our  world  by  delegation  :  as  if  a 
king  had  commissioned  his  son  to  go  and  reduce  a  certain  rebel- 
lious province,  and  restore  it  to  his  dominion.  The  period  allot- 
ted for  this  work  extends  from  the  time  of  the  revelation  of  the 
promised  seed  to  the  d;iy  of  judgment.  The  operations  are  pro- 
gressive. If  it  had  seemed  good  in  his  sight,  he  could  have  over- 
turned the  power  of  Satan  in  a  short  period  ;  but  his  wisdom  saw- 
fit  to  accomplish  it  by  degrees.  Like  the  commander  of  an  inva- 
ding army,  he  first  takes  possession  of  one  post,  then  of  another, 
then  of  a  third,  and  so  on,  till  by  and  by  the  whole  country  falls 
into  \\\<  hands.  And  as  the  progress  of  a  conqueror  would  be 
more  rapid  after  a  few  of  the  strongest  fortresses  had  surrendered, 
inasmuch  as  things  would  then  approach  fast  to  a  crisis,  to  a  break- 
ing up,  as  it  were,  of  the  powers  of  the  enemy,)  so  it  has  been 

*  Rev.  V.  11  —  13.  t  Matt.  vi.  10. 

Vor..  III.  23 


178  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH  [Part  11. 

with  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  such  will  be  its  progress  before 
the  end  of  time.  In  the  early  ages  of  the  world  but  little  was 
done.  At  one  time  true  religion  appears  to  have  existed  only 
in  a  few  families.  Afterwards  it  assumed  a  national  appear- 
ance. After  this  it  was  addressed  to  all  nations.  And  before  the 
close  of  time  all  nations  shall  be  subjected  to  the  obedience  of 
Christ.  This  shall  be  the  breaking  up  of  Satan's  empire.  Now 
as  on  the  conquest  of  a  rebellious  province,  the  delegated  author- 
ity of  the  conqueror  would  cease,  and  the  natural  government  of 
the  empire  resume  its  original  form ;  so  Christ  is  represented  as 
delivering  up  the  kingdom  to  his  Father,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all* 
This  is  the  ultimatum  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  ;  and  this  appears 
to  be  the  ultimate  object  for  which  he  taught  his  disciples  to  pray: 
but  as  the  final  end  involves  the  preceding  gradations  which  lead 
on  to  its  accomplishment,  in  directing  them  to  pray  for  the  coming 
of  God's  kingdom,  he  directeth  them  to  pray  for  the  present  prev- 
alence of  his  own. 

As  on  the  conquest  of  a  rebellious  province  some  would  be  par 
doned,  and  others  punished  ;  as  every  vestige  of  rebellion  would 
be  effaced,  and  law,  peace,  and  order,  flow  in  their  ancient  chan- 
nels ;  such  a  period  might  with  propriety  be  termed  a  restitution 
of  all  things.^  Such  will  be  the  event  of  the  last  judgment,  which 
is  described  as  the  concluding  exercise  of  the  delegated  authority 
of  Christ. 

As  on  the  conquest  of  a  rebellious  province,  and  the  restitution 
of  peace  and  order,  that  province,  instead  of  being  any  longer  sep- 
arate  from  the  rest  of  the  empire,  would  become  a  component  par- 
of  it,  and  the  king's  will  would  be  done  in  it  as  it  had  been  done 
without  interruption  in  the  loyal  part  of  his  territories  ;  such  is 
the  representation  given  with  respect  to  our  world,  and  the  holy 
parts  of  God's  dominions.  A  period  will  arrive  when  the  will  of 
God  shall  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  now  done  in  heaven.  This, 
however,  will  never  be  the  case  while  any  vestige  of  moral  evil  re- 
mains. It  must  be  after  the  general  conflagration  ;  which,  though 
it  will  destroy  every  kind  of  evil,  root  and  branch,  that  now  pre- 
vails upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  will  terminate  the  generations 
of  Adam,   who  have  possessed  it ;  yet   will  not  so   destroy  the 

*  J  Cor.  XV.  24.  28.  t  Acts  iii.  10. 


Chapter  v.;  THi:  MAOMTUDE  OF  CREATION.  179 

«arth  itself  but  that  it  shall  survive  its  tieiy  trial,  and,  as  I  appre- 
hend, become  the  everlasting  abode  of  righteousness  ;  a  part  of 
the  holy  empire  of  God.  This  was  to  be  the  mark  on  which  the 
disciples  were  to  keep  their  eye  in  all  their  prayers  :  but  as  in 
desiring  a  perfect  conformity  to  Christ  in  their  own  souls,  they 
would  necessarily  desire  the  present  progress  of  purity  in  the  use 
of  ;U1  the  appointed  means,  so  in  praying  that  God's  will  might  be 
perfectly  done  on  earth,  even  as  it  is  done  in  heaven,  they  would 
pray  for  the  progressive  prevalence  of  righteousness  in  the  world, 
as  that  by  which  it  should  be  accom[)lished. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  earth,  thus  purified,  may  ever  con- 
tinue the  resort,  if  not  the  frequent  abode  of  those  who  are  redeem- 
ed from  it.  Places  where  some  of  the  most  interesting  events  have 
been  transacted,  when  visited  at  some  distance  ot  time,  often  be- 
come, in  the  present  state  of  things,  a  considerable  source  of  delight. 
Such  was  Bethel  to  Jacob,  and  Tabor,  no  doubt,  to  the  three  disci- 
ples ;  and  if  any  remains  of  our  present  sensations  should  attend 
us  in  a  state  of  immortality,  a  review  of  the  scenes  of  our  Lord's 
birth,  life,  agony,  and  crucifixion,  as  well  as  of  many  other  events, 
may  furnish  a  source  of  everlasting  enjoyment. 

However  this  may  be,  the  scriptures  give  us  to  understand,  that 
though  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  ami  the  earth,  and 
the  works  that  are  therein,  shall  be  burnt  up;  yet  according  to 
promise,  we  are  to  look  for  new  heavens,  and  a  new  earth,  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness*  By  the  7tejo  heavens  here  is  plainly  to  be 
understood  so  much  of  the  element  as  shall  have  been  affected 
by  the  general  conflagration  ;  and  by  the  new  earth,  the  earth 
after  it  is  purified  by  it. 

Much  to  the  same  purpose  is  the  account  given  towardi  the 
close  of  the  Revelation  of  John.  After  a  description  of  the  gener- 
al judgment,  it  follows.  And  1  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  : 
for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away. — And  I 
John  saw  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem,  coming  doicn  from  God  out 
of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  When 
the  earth  shall  have  become  a  part  of  God's  holy  empire,  heaven 

*2rrt.  ill.  12,  13. 


180  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH  [Part  II. 

itself  may  then  be  said  to  come  down  upon  it:  seeing  all  that  is 
now  ascribed  to  the  one  will  be  true  of  the  other.  Behold^  the  tab- 
ernacle of  God  shall  he  loith  men,  and  he  will  dioell  icith  them ;  and 
they  shall  he  his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  he  with  them;  and 
shall  he  their  God.  And  God  shall  toipe  away  all  tears  from  their 
eyes;  and  there  shall  he  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  j  nor  crying, 
neither  shall  there  he  any  more  pain ;  for  the  former  things  shall  be 
passed  away.  And  he  that  sat  upon  the  throne  said,  Behold  I  make 
all  things  new.  And  he  said  to  me.  Write,  for  these  words  are  true 
and  faithful.* 

If  the  great  end  of  redemption  be  the  reunion  of  this  world  to 
the  holy  empire  of  God,  and  if  such  reunion  be  accompanied  with 
a  mutual  augmentation  of  blessedness  ;  then  the  importance  of  the 
one  must  bear  some  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  other. 
Upon  any  system  of  philosophy,  redemption  is  great ;  but  upon 
that  which  so  amazingly  magnifies  intelligent  creation,  it  must  be 
great  beyond  expression. 

6.  The  scriptures  represent  the  punishment  of  the  finally  impeni- 
tent a^  appointed  for  an  example  to  the  rest  of  the  creation. — Sod- 
om and  Gomorrha,  and  the  cities  about  them,  in  giving  thi'Mselves 
over  to  fornication,  and  going  after  strange  fiesh,  are  set  forth  for 
AN  KXAMPLE,  Suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire. — And  her 
smoke  (the  smoke  of  Babylon,)  rose  up  for  ever  and  ever.  And 
the  four  and  twenty  elders,  and  the  four  living  creatures  fell  down 
and  worshipped  God  that  sal  on  the  throne,  saying.  Amen ;  Alle- 
luia.] 

The  miseries  of  the  damned  are  never  represented  as  inflicted 
upon  them  from  such  a  kind  of  wrath  or  vengeance  as  bears  no 
relation  to  the  general  good.  God  is  love',  and  in  none  of  his  pro- 
ceedings does  he  violate  this  principle,  or  lose  sight  of  the  well  being 
of  creation  in  general.  The  manifestation  of  his  glory  is  not  only 
inseparably  connected  with  this  object,  but  consists  in  accomplish- 
ing it. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  general  good  that  God's  abhorrence  of 
moral  evil  should  be  marked  by  some  strong  and  durable  expres- 

*  Rev.  xxi.  1—5.         +  Rev.  xix.  3,4. 


Chapter  V.]        THE  MAGNITUDE  OF  CREATION.  igj 

sion  of  it ;  so  liiat  no  one  subject  of  bi«  empire  can  overlook  it. 
Such  an  expression  was  tlie  death  of  Christ,  his  only-begotten  Son; 
and  this  availelh  on  behalf  of  all  who  acquiesce  in  his  salvation:  but 
all  who  do  not,  or  who  possess  not  such  a  tem[)er  of  heart  as  would 
acquiesce  in  it  if  it  were  presented  to  them,  must  themselves 
be  made  sacrifices  to  his  justice  ;  and  so,  like  enemies  and 
traitors  to  a  human  government,  must  be  made  to  answer 
such  an  end  by  their  death  as  shall  counteract  the  ill  ex- 
ample afforded  by  their  life.  What  is  said  of  the  barren  vine  if 
applicable  to  the  finally  impenitent  :  li  is  not  Jit  for  any  work — 
it  is  good  for  nothing  but  to  be  burntd  !*  The  only  way  in  which 
they  promote  the  general  good  is  by  their  overthrow  :  like  the 
censors  of  Korah  and  his  company  whicli  were  made  into  broad 
plates  for  a  covering  to  the  altar  ;  that  they  might  be  a  sign  to  the 
children  of  Israel  in  future  generations  ;t  or  like  Lot's  wife,  who 
was  converted  into  -^pillar  of  salt,  or  a  lasting  monument  of  divine 
displeasure  ! 

If  the  grand  end  of  future  punishment  be  example,  this  must  sup- 
pose the  existence  of  an  intelligent  creation,  who  shall  profit  by  it; 
and  it  should  seem  of  a  creation  of  magnitude  ;  as  it  accords  with 
the  conduct  of  neither  God  nor  man  to  punish  a  great  number  for 
an  example  to  a  few. 

This  truth  affords  a  satisfactory  idea  of  the  divine  government, 
whether  there  be  a  multiplicity  of  inhabited  worlds  or  not :  but  if 
there  be,  it  is  still  more  satisfactory  ;  as  on  this  supposition  the 
number  of  those  who  shall  be  finally  lost  may  bear  far  less  propor- 
tion to  the  whole  of  the  intelligent  creation,  than  a  single  execu- 
tion to  the  inhabitants  of  agreat  empire.  It  is  true,  the  loss  to  those 
who  are  lost  will  be  nothing  abated  by  this  consideration;  per- 
haps, on  the  contrary,  it  may  be  augmented  ;  and  to  them  the 
divine  government  will  ever  appear  gloomy  ;  but  to  those  who 
iudge  of  things  impartially,  and  upon  an  extensive  scale,  it  will  ap- 
pear to  contain  no  more  of  a  disparagement  to  the  government  of 
the  universe,  than  the  execution  of  a  murderer,  once  in  a  hun- 
dred years,  would  be  to  the  goverment  of  a  nation. 

And  now  I  appeal  to  the  intelligent,  the  ■serious,  and  the  candtd 
reader,  \vhether  there  be  any  truth  in  what  Mr.  Paine  asserts,  that 

•  Ezek.  XV.  2—5.  t  Numb.  xvi.  38. 


182  REDEMPTION  CONSISTENT  WITH,  &c.  [Part  IL 

to  admit  "  that  God  created  a  plurality  of  worlds,  at  least  as  nu- 
merous as  what  we  call  stars,  renders  the  Christian  system  of  faith 
at  once  little  and  ridiculous,  and  scatters  it  in  the  mind  like  fea- 
thers in  the  air."  On  the  contrary,  it  might  be  proved,  that  every 
?ystem  of  philosophy  is  little  in  comparison  of  Christianity.  Phi- 
losophy may  expand  our  ideas  of  creation  ;  but  it  neither  inspires 
a  love  to  the  moral  character  of  the  Creator,  nor  a  well-grounded 
hope  of  eternal  life.  Philosophy  at  most  can  only  place  us  at  the 
top  of  Pisgah  :  there,  like  Moses  we  must  die  :  it  gives  us  no  pos- 
sessions of  the  good  land.  It  is  the  province  of  Christianity  to 
add,  All  is  youns  !  When  you  have  ascended  to  the  height  of  hu- 
man discovery,  there  are  things,  and  things  of  infinite  moment 
too,  that  are  utterly  beyond  its  reach.  Revelation  is  the  medium, 
and  the  only  medium,  by  which,  standing,  as  it  were,  "  on  na- 
ture's Alps,"  we  discover  things  which  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor 
ear  heard,  and  of  which  it  never  hath  entered  into  <he  heart  of 
raan  to  conceive. 


CONCLUDING  ADDRESSES, 


OErSTS,  JEWS,  AND  CHRISTIANS. 


Whether  the  writer  of  these  sheets  can  justly   hope  that  what  he   advances- 
will  attract  the  attention  of  unbelievers,  he   does  not  pretend  to  say.    If 
however,   it  should  fall  into   the  hands  of  individuals   among  them,  he 
earnestly  entreats  that,  for  their  own  sakes,  they  would  attend  to  what  fol- 
'ow»  with  seriousness. 


TO  DEISTS. 

Fellow  Men., 

It  is  hoped  that  nothing  in  the  preceding  pages  can  be  fairly 
construed  into  the  want  of  good  will  towards  any  of  you.  If  1 
know  my  heart,  it  is  not  you,  but  your  mischievous  principles  that 
are  the  objects  of  my  dislike. 

In  the  former  part  of  this  performance,  I  have  endeavoured  to 
prove,  that  the  system  which  you  embrace  overlooks  the  moral 
character  of  God,  refuses  to  worship  him,  affords  no  standard  of 
right  and  wrong,  undermines  the  most  efficacious  motives  to  vir- 
tuous action,  actually  produces  a  torrent  of  vice,  and  leaves  man- 
kind, under  all  their  miseries,  to  perish  without  hope;  in  fine, 
that  it  is  an  immoral  system,  pregnant  with  destruction  to  the  hu- 
man race.  Unless  you  be  able  to  overlook  what  is  there  advan- 
ced, or,  at  least,  be  conscious  that  it  is  not  true  with  regard  to 


184 


ADDRESS  TO  DEISTS. 


yourselves,  you  have  reason  to  be  seriously  alarmed.  To  em- 
brace a  system  of  immorality  is  the  same  thing  as  to  be  enemies 
to  all  righteousness  ;  neither  to  fear  God,  nor  regard  man  ; 
and  what  good  fruit  you  can  expect  to  reap  from  it,  in  this  world 
or  another,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive.  But  alas,  instead  of  being 
alarmed  at  the  immorality  of  your  principles,  is  there  no  reason 
to  suspect  that  it  is  on  this  very  account  you  cherish  them  ?  You 
can  occasionally  praise  the  morality  of  Jesus  Christ :  but  are  you 
sincere  ?  Why"  then  do  you  not  walk  by  it  ?  However  you  may  mag- 
nify other  difficulties,  which  you  have  industriously  laboured  to 
discover  in  the  bible,  your  actions  declare  that  it  is  the  holiness 
of  its  doctrines  and  precepts,  that  more  than  any  thing  else  of- 
fends you.  The  manifest  object  at  which  you  aim,  both  for  your- 
selves and  the  world,  is  an  exemption  from  its  restraints.  Your 
general  conduct,  if  put  into  words,  amounts  to  this  :  Come  let  us 
break  his  bands,  and  cast  away  his  cords  from  us. 

Circumstances  of  late  years  have  much  favoured  your  design. 
Your  party  has  gained  the  ascendency  in  a  great  nation,  and  has 
been  consequently  increasing  in  other  nations.  Hence  it  is,  perhaps, 
that  your  spirits  are  raised,  and  that  a  higher  tone  is  assumed  in 
your  speeches  and  writings  than  has  been  usual  on  former  oc- 
casions. You  are  great,  you  are  enlightened;  yes,  you  have  found 
out  the  secret,  and  have  only  to  rid  the  world  of  Christianity  in 
order  to  render  it  happ}^.  But  be  not  too  confident.  You  are 
not  the  first  who  have  set  themselves  against  the  Lord,  and  against 
his  Anointed.  You  have  have  overthrown  superstition;  but  vaunt 
not  against  Christianity.  Of  a  truth  you  have  destroyed  the  gods 
of  Rome,  for  they  were  no  gods;  but  let  this  suffice  you.  It  is 
hard  to  kick  against  the  pricks. 

Whatever  success  may  attend  yotir  cause,  if  it  be  an  immoral 
one,  and  espoused  on  that  very  account,  it  cannot  possibly  stand.  It 
must  fall,  and  you  may  expect  to  be  buried  in  its  ruins.  It  may 
be  thought  sufficient  for  me  to  reason  on  the  system  itself,  without 
descending  to  the  motives  of  those  who  imbibe  it;  but  where  mo- 
tives are  manifested  by  actions,  they  become  objects  of  human 
cognizance.  Nor  is  there  any  hope  of  your  unbelief  being  remo- 
ved, but  by  something  that  shall  reach  the  cause  of  it.     My  desire 


AUURKs.S    JO  DEISTS.  J35 

js  neither  to  insult  nor  flatter,  but  seriously  to  expostulate  with 
you;  if  God  peradventure  may  give  you  repentance  to  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  truth.  Three  thing?,  in  particular,  i  would 
earnestly  recommend  to  your  serious  consideration.  How  it  was 
that  you  first  imbibed  your  present  principles;  How  it  is  that  al- 
most all  your  writers,  at  one  time  or  other,  bear  testimony  in  favour 
of  Christianity;  and,  How  it  comes  to  pass  that  your  principles 
fail  you,  as  they  are  frequently  known  to  do,  in  a  dying  hour  ? 

First:  How  was  it  that  you  first  renounced  Christianity, 
AND  imbibed  your  PRESENT  PRINCIPLES  ?  Retrace  the  process  of 
your  minds,  and  ask  your  consciences  as  you  proceed,  whether 
all  was  fair  and  upright.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  for  per- 
sons of  relaxed  morals  to  attribute  their  change  of  conduct  to  a 
change  of  sentiments,  or  views  relative  to  those  subjects.  It  is 
galling  to  one's  own  feelings,  and  mean  in  the  account  of  others, 
to  act  against  pririciple;  but  if  a  person  can  once  persuade  himself 
to  think  favourably  of  those  things  which  he  has  formerly  account- 
ed sinful,  and  can  furnish  a  plea  for  them,  which,  at  least,  may 
serve  to  parry  the  censures  of  mankind,  he  will  feel  much  more  at 
ease,  and  be  able  to  put  011  a  better  face  when  he  mingles  in  socie- 
ty. Whatever  inward  stings  tn;iy  annoy  his  peace  under  certain 
occasional  qualms,  yet  he  has  not  to  reproach  himself,  nor  can  any 
one  reproach  him  with  that  inconsistency  of  character  as  in  former 
instances.  Rousseau  confesses  he  found,  in  the  reasonings  of  a  cer- 
tain lady,  with  whom  he  lived  in  the  greatest  possible  familiarity, 
all  those  ideas  -d-hich  he  hud  occasion  for: — Have  you  not  found  the 
same  in  the  conversation  ami  writings  of  Deists  ?  Did  you  not, 
previously  to  your  rejection  of  Christianity,  indulge  in  vicious 
courses;  and  while  indulging  in  iliese  courses,  did  not  its  holy  pre- 
cepts, and  awful  threatenings  gall  your  spirits  ?  Were  you  not  like 
persons  gathering  forbidden  fruit  amidst  showers  of  arrows:  and 
had  you  not  recourse  to  your  present  principles  for  a  shield 
against  them  ?  if  you  cannot  honestly  answer  these  ques- 
tions in  the  negative,  you  lue  in  an  evil  cause.  You  may  flatter 
yourselves,  for  a  while,  that  perhaps  there  may  be  no  hereafter, 
or  at  least  no  judgment  to  come;  but  you  know  the  time  is  npt  far 

Vol.  hi.  24 


186  ADDRESS  TO  DEISTS. 

distant  when  you  must  go  and  see;  and  then,  if  you  should  be  mis 
taken,  What  will  you  do  ? 

Many  of  you  have  descended  from  godly  parents,  and  have  had 
a  religious  education.  Has  not  your  infidelity  arisen  from  the  dis- 
like which  you  conceived  in  early  life  to  religious  exercises  ? 
Family  worship  was  a  weariness  to  you;  and  the  cautions,  warn- 
ings and  counsels  which  were  given  you,  instead  of  having  any  pro- 
per effect,  only  irritated  your  corruptions.  You  longed  to  be  from 
under  the  yoke.  Since  that  time,  your  parents,  it  may  be,  have 
been  removed  by  death;  or  if  they  live,  they  may  have  lost  their 
control  over  you.  So  now  you  are  free.  But  still  something  is 
wanting  to  erase  the  prejudices  of  education,  which,  in  spite  of  all 
your  efforts,  will  accompany  you,  and  embitter  your  present  pur- 
suits. For  this  purpose,  a  friend  put  into  your  hands  The  Age  of 
Reason,  or  some  production  of  the  kind.  You  read  it  with  avidity. 
This  is  the  very  thing  you  wanted.  You  have  long  suspected  the 
truth  of  Christianity;  but  had  not  courage  to  oppose  it.  Now  then, 
you  are  a  philosopher;  yes,  a  philosopher !  '  Our  fathers,'  say 
you,  '  might  be  well-meaning  people,  but  they  were  imposed  upon 
by  priests.  The  world  gets  more  enlightened  now-a-days.  There 
is  no  need  of  such  rigidness.  The  Supreme  Being  (if  there  be 
one,)  can  never  have  created  the  pleasures  of  life,  but  for  the  pur- 
pose of  enjoyment.  Avaunt,  ye  self-denying  casuists  !  Nature  is 
the  law  of  man !' 

Was  not  this,  or  something  nearly  resembling  it,  the  process  of 
your  minds  ?  And  are  you  now  satisfied  ?  1  do  not  ask  whether 
you  have  been  able  to  defend  your  cause  agiiinst  assailants,  nor 
whether  you  have  gained  converts  to  your  way  of  thinking:  you 
may  have  done  both;  but  are  you  satisfied  with  yourselves  ?  Do 
you  really  believe  yourselves  to  be  in  the  right  way  ?  Have  you 
no  misgivings  of  heart?  Is  there  not  something  within  you  which 
occasionally  whispers,  '  My  parents  were  righteous,  and  I  am 
wicked:  O  that  my  soul  were  in  their  souls'  stead  ?' 

Ah  young  men  !  If  such  be  the  occasional  revoltings  of  your 
mind,  what  are  you  doing  in  labouring  to  gain  others  over  to  your 
way  of  thinking  ?  Can  you  from  experience  honestly  promise  them 
peace  of  mind  ?  Can  you  go  about  to  persuade  them  that  there  is 


ADDREbS  TO  DEISTS.  iy7 

no  liell,  wlicn,  il"  you  would  speak  the  truth,  you  nuist  acknowl- 
edge that  you  have  already  ;ui  earnest  of  it  kindled  in  your  bo- 
soms ?  If  counsels  were  not  lost  upon  you,  I  would  entreat  you  to 
be  contented  with  destrojiui;  your  own  souls.  Have  pity  on  your 
lellow-oreaturcs,  it'  you  have  none  u|>on  yourselves  ?  Nay,  spare 
yourselves  so  much,  at  least,  as  not  to  incur  the  everlasting  ex- 
ecrations of  your  most  intimate  acquaintance.  If  Christianity 
should  prove  what  your  consciences  in  your  most  serious  moments 
fell  you  it  is,  you  are  doing  this  every  day  of  your  lives. 

Secondly  :   Consider  I  low  it  is  that  /vlmost   all  your   wri- 
ters,    AT    ONK    TIMK     Oil    OTHER,  BKAR    TESTIMONV    IN  FAVOUR    OF 

CHRISTIANITY.  It  wcrc  Gasy  to  collect  from  those  very  writings 
which  were  designetl  to  undermine  the  Christian  religion,  hun- 
dreds of  testimonies  in  its  favour.  Voltaire  and  Rousseau,  as  we 
have  seen  already,  have  in  their  fits  gone  far  towards  contradic- 
ting all  which  they  have  written  against  it.  Bolingbroke  has  done 
the  same.  Such  sentences  as  the  following  may  be  found  in  his 
publications  :  "  Supposing  Christianity  to  have  been  a  human  in- 
vention, it  has  been  the  most  amiable  invention  that  was  ever  im- 
posed on  mankind  for  their  good. — Christianity  as  it  came  out  of 
the  hand  of  God,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  was  a  most  simple 
and  intelligible  rule  of  belief,  worship,  and  manners,  which  is  the 
true  notion  of  a  religion. — The  gospel  is  in  all  cases  one  contin- 
ued lesson  of  the  strictest  morality,  of  justice,  of  benevolence, 
and  of  universal  charity."*  Paine,  perhaps,  has  said  as  little  in 
this  way  as  any  of  your  writers,  yet  he  has  professed  a  respect 
for  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ.  "  He  was,"  says  he,  "  a  vir- 
tuous and  an  amiable  man.  The  morality  he  preached  and  prac- 
tised was  of  the  most  benevolent  kind-"t 

In  what  manner  will  you  go  about  to  account  for  these  concess- 
ions ?  Christian  writers,  those  at  least  who  are  sincerely  attached 
to  the  case,  are  not  seized  with  these  fits  of  inconsistency.  How 
is  it  that  yours,  like  the  worshippers  of  Baal,  should  thus  be  con- 
tinually cutting  themselves  with  knives  ?  You  must  cither  give 
up  your  leaders  as  a  set  of  men,  who,  while  they  are  labouring   to 

'■  Works,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  394,  395.         Vol.  V.  pp.  180,  189 

t  Age  of  Reason,  Pari  I.  p.  5. 


lyg  ADDRESS  TO  DEISTS. 

persuade  the  world  of  the  hypocrisy  of  priests,  were  themselves 
the  most  infamous  of  all  hypocrites  ;  or,  which  will  be  equally 
fatal  to  your  cause,  you  must  attribute  it  to  occasional  convictions, 
which  they  felt  and  expressed,  though  contrary  to  the  general 
strain  of  their  writings.  Is  it  not  an  unfavourable  character  of 
your  cause,  that  in  this  particular,  it  exactly  resembles  that  of 
vice  itself?  Vicious  men  will  often  bear  testimony  in  favour  of 
virtue,  especially  on  the  near  approach  of  death  ;  but  virtuous 
men  never  return  the  compliment  by  bearing  testimony  in  favour 
of  vice.  We  are  not  afraid  of  Christians  thus  betraying  their 
cause  ;  but  neither  your  writers  nor  your  consciences  are  to  be 
trusted  in  a  serious  hour. 

Thirdly  :  Consider  How  it  comes  to  pass  that  your  princi- 
ples    FAIL     YOU,    AS     THEY    ARE    FREQUENTLY   KNOWN   TO    DO     IN 

A  DYING  HOUR.  It  is  a  rule  with  wise  men,  so  to  live  as  they  shall 
wish  they  had  'when  they  come  to  die.  How  do  you  suppose  you 
shall  wish  you  had  lived  in  that  day  ?  Look  at  the  deaths  of  your 
greatest  men,  and  see  what  their  principles  have  done  for  them  at 
last.  Mark  the  end  of  that  apostle  and  high-priest  of  your  pro- 
fession, Voltaire  ;  and  try  if  you  can  find  in  it  either  integrity, 
or  hope,  or  any  thing  that  should  render  it  an  object  of  envy.* 
Why  is  it  that  so  many  of  you  faint  in  the  day  of  trial  ?  If  your 
cause  were  good,  you  would  defend  it  with  uprightness,  and   die 

*  The  following  particulars,  atnongf  many  others,  are  recorded  of  this  wri- 
ter by  his  biographer,  Condorcet,  a  man  after  his  own  heart.  First  :  That 
he  conceived  the  design  of  overturning  the  Christian  religion,  and  that  by 
his  own  hand.  "1  am  wearied,"  said  he,  "of  hearing  it  repeated  that 
twelve  men  were  sufficient  to  establish  Christianity ;  and  I  wish  to  prove 
there  needs  but  one  to  destroy  it."  Secondly  :  That  in  pursuit  of  this  ob- 
ject he  was  threatened  with  a  persecution,  to  avoid  which  he  received  the 
sacrament,  and  publicly  declared  his  respect  for  the  church,  and  his  disdain 
of  his  detractors,  namely  those  who  had  called  in  question  his  Christianity  I 
Thirdly  :  That  in  his  last  illness,  in  Paris,  being  desirous  of  obtaining  what 
is  called  Christian  burial,  he  sent  for  a  priest,  to  whom  he  declared  th?A  he 
*'died  in  the  Catholic  faith,  in  which  iic  was  born."  Fourthly  :  That  another 
priest  (Curate  of  the  parish)  troubled  him  with  questions.  Among  other 
things  he  asked,  "Do  you  believe  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christr'"  "In  the 
uame  of  God,  Sir,"  replied  Voltaire.  *' ?peak  to  me  no  more  of  that  man, 
but  let  m*?  'lie  in  peace." 


ADDRESS  TO  DF.IST.'^.  I(j9 

with  inwaril  satisfijction.  But  i'^  it  so  ?  Mr.  Paine  flatters  himsell 
that  Ills  principles  ivill  bear  liiiii  up  in  the  prospect  of  death  ;*  and 
it  is  possible  that  he  may  brave  it  out  in  some  such  manner  as 
David  Huuie  (lid.  Such  instances,  however,  are  rare.  For  one 
unbehever  tiiat  maintains  his  courage,  many  might  be  produced 
whose  hearts  have  failed  them,  and  wlio  have  trembled  for  the 
consequences  of  their  infidelity. 

On  the  otiierhand,  you  cannot  produce  a  single  instance  of  a 
Christian,   who  at  the  Ari'ROACH  ok  death  was  troubled  ok 

TJslRRIKIED      IN      HIS    CONSCIENCE    FOR    HAVING     BEEN    A    CHRISTIAN. 

Many  have  been  afraid  in  that  day  lest  their  faith  in  Christ  should 
not  prove  genuine  ;  but  u-ho  that  has  put  his  trust  in  him  was 
ever  known  to  be  apprehensive  lest  he  should  at  last  deceive  him? 
Can  you  account  for  this  difference  ?  If  you  have  discovered  the 
true  religion,  and  ours  be  all  fable  and  imposture,  how  comes  it  to 
pass  that  the  issue  of  things  is  what  it  is  ?  Do  gold  and  silver  and 
precious  stones  perish  in  the  fire  ?  and  do  wood  and  hay  and  stub- 
ble endure  it  ? 

I  have  admitted  that  Mr.  Paine  may  possibly  brave  it  out  to  the 
last  ;  but  if  he  does,  his  courage  may  he  merely  assumed.  Pride 
will  induce  men  to  disguise  the  genuine  feelings  of  their  hearts,  on 
more  occasions  than  one.  We  hear  much  of  courage  among  duel- 
lists ;  but  little  credit  is  due  to  what  they  say,  if,  while  the  words 
proceed  from  their  lips,  we  see  them  approach  each  other  with  pale- 
ness and  trembling.  Yea  more,  If  Mr.  Paine's  courage  in  death  be 
not  different  from  what  it  already  is  in  the  prospect  of  it,  it  certainly 
will  be  merely  assumed.  He  has  given  full  proof  of  what  his  courage 
amounts  to  in  what  he  has  advanced  on  the  certainty  of  a  future  state. 
He  acknowledges  the  possibility  of  a  future  judgment  ;  yea,  he 
admits  it  to  be  rational  to  believe  that  there  will  be  one.  "  The 
power,"  he  says,  "  that  called  us  into  being,  can,  if  he  please  and 
when  he  pleases,  call  us  to  account  for  the  manner  in  which  we 
have  lived  here  ;  and  therefore,  without  seeking  any  further  mo- 
tive for  the  belief,  it  is  rational  to  believe  that  he  will,  for  we 

•  Age  of  Reason,  Part  II.  Pre/are 


190  ADDRESS  TO  DEISTS. 

know  before-hand  that  he  can."*  I  shall  not  stop  to  inquire  into 
the  justness  of  Mr.  Paine's  reasoning,  from  what  God  can  do  to 
what  he  will  do  ;  it  is  sufficient  for  me  that  he  admits  it  to  be 
"  rational  to  believe  that  God  will  call  men  to  account  for  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  have  lived  here."  And  can  he  admit  this  truth, 
and  not  tremble  ?  Mark  his  firmness.  After  acknowledging  that  a 
future  judgment  is  the  object  of  rational  belief,  he  retracts  what  he 
has  said  by  redwcing  it  to  only  a  prohahility ,  which  is  to  have  the 
influence  of  belief:  yea,  and  as  if  that  were  too  terrible  an  idea,  he 
brings  it  down  to  a  mere  possibility.  The  reason  which  he  gives 
for  these  reductions  is,  that  "  If  we  knew  it  as  a  fact,  we  should  be 
the  mere  slaves  of  terror.''''  Indeed  ?  But  wherefore  ?  Christians  be- 
lieve in  a  judgment  to  come,  and  they  are  not  the  slaves  of  terror. 
They  have  an  Advocate  as  well  as  a  Judge,  by  believing  in  whom 
the  terror  of  judgment  is  removed.  And  though  Mr.  Paine 
rejects  this  ground  of  consolation,  yet  if  things  be  as  he  has  repre- 
sented them,  I  do  not  perceive  why  he  should  be  terrified.  He 
writes  as  though  he  stood  on  a  very  respectable  footing  with  his 
Creator;  he  is  not  ''  an  out-cast,  a  beggar,  or  a  worm  ;"  he  need's 
no  mediator:  no  indeed  I  He  "stands  in  the  same  relative  con- 
dition with  his  Maker  he  ever  did  stand  since  man  existed."! 
Very  well  ;  of  what  then  is  he  afraid  ?  '■'  God  is  good,  and  will 
exceed  the  very  best  of  us  in  goodness."  On  this  ground  Lord 
Shaftesbury  assures  us,  "  Deists  can  have  no  dread  or  suspicion 
to  render  them  uneasy  :  for  it  is  malioe  only,  and  not  goodness, 
which  can  make  them  afraid."]:  Very  well,  I  say  again,  of  what 
then  is  Mr.  Paine  afraid  ?  If  a  Being  full  of  goodness  will  not 
hurt  him,  he  will  not  be  hurt.  Why  should  he  be  terrified  at  a 
certain  hereafter.  Why  not  meet  his  Creator  with  cheerfulness 
and  confidence  ?  Instead  of  this,  he  knows  of  no  method  by  which 
he  may  be  exempted  from  terror  but  that  of  reducing  future  judg- 
ment to  a  mere  possibility ;  leaving  room  for  some  faint  hope,  at 
least,  that  what  he  professes  to  believe  as  true,  may,  in  the  end, 
prove  false.     Such  is  the  courage  of  your  blustering  hero.     Un- 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  II.  p.  100.  t  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  p.  21. 

:|:  Characteristics,  Vol.  I.  {  5. 


ADDRESS  TO  DEISTS. 


191 


happy  man  ;  unhappy  people  !     Your  principles  will  not  support 
you  in  death,  nor  so  much  as  in  the  contemplation  of  an  hereafter. 

Lt't  Mr.  Painc's  hypothesis  be  admitted,  and  that  in  its  lowest 
form,  that  lliore  is  only  a  possibilitij  of  a  judgment  to  come,  this  is 
sufficient  to  evince  your  folly,  and,  if  you  thought  on  the  subject, 
to  destroy  your  peace.  This  alone  has  induced  many  of  you  in 
your  last  moments  to  wish  you  Iiad  lived  like  Christians.  If  it  be 
possible  that  there  may  be  a  judgment  to  come,  why  should  it  not 
be  equally  possible  that  Christianity  itself  may  be  true?  And  if 
it  shoulil,  on  what  ground  do  you  stand  ?  If  it  be  otherwise, 
Christians  have  nothing  to  fear.  While  they  are  taught  to  deny 
ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously, 
and  godly,  in  this  present  world,  whatever  may  prove  true  with 
respect  to  another,  it  is  presumed  they  are  safe  :  but  if  that  Sav- 
iour whom  you  have  despised  should  be  indeed  the  Son  of  God  : 
if  that  name  which  you  have  blasphemed  should  be  the  only  one 
given  under  heaven  and  among  men  by  which  you  can  be  saved  ; 
what  a  situation  must  you  be  in  !  You  may  wish  at  present  not  to 
be  told  of  him  ;  yea,  even  in  death  it  may  be  a  vexation,  as  it  was 
to  Voltaire,  to  hear  of  him  ;  but  hear  of  him  you  must,  and,  what 
is  more,  you  must  appear  before  him. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  address  without  expressing  ray  earnest 
desire  for  your  salvation  ;  and,  whether  you  will  hear,  or  whether 
you  will  forbear,  reminding  you  that  our  Redeemer  is  merciful. 
He  can  have  compassion  on  the  ignorant,  and  them  who  are  out  of 
the  way.  The  door  of  mercy  is  not  yet  shut.  At  present  you  are 
invited  and  even  entreated  to  enter  in.  But  if  you  still  continue 
hardened  against  him,  you  may  find  to  your  cost  that  the  abuse  ot 
mercy  gives  an  edge  to  justice  ;  and  that  to  be  crushed  to  atoms 
by  falling  rocks,  or  buried  in  oblivion  at  the  bottom  of  mountains, 
were  rather  to  be  chosen  than  an  exposure  to  the  wrath  of  the 
Lamb. 


192  ADDRESS  TO  THE  JEWS. 


TO  THE  JB.WS. 

Beloved  for  the  fathers^  sakes  ! 

He  whom  you  have  long  rejected,  looked  upon  Jerusalem  and 
wept  over  it.  With  tears  he  pronounced  upon  that  famous  city 
a  doom,  which,  according  to  your  own  writer,  Josephus,  was  soon 
afterwards  accomplished.  In  imitation  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
we  also  could  weep  over  your  present  situation.  There  are 
thousands  in  Britain,  as  well  as  in  other  nations,  whose  daily 
prayer  is,  that  you  may  be  saved.  Hear  me  patiently,  and  can- 
didly. Your  present  and  everlasting  good  is  the  object  of  my 
desire. 

It  is  not  my  design,  in  this  brief  address,  to  go  over  the  various 
topics  in  dispute  between  us.  Many  have  engaged  in  this  work, 
and  I  hope  to  some  good  purpose.  The  late  addresses  to  you, 
both  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  as  they  were  dictated  by  pure 
benevolence,  certainly  deserve,  and  I  trust  have  gained,  in  some 
degree,  your  candid  attention.  All  that  1  shall  say  will  be  com- 
prised in  a  few  suggestions,  which  I  suppose  to  arise  from  the  sub- 
ject of  the  preceding  pages. 

You  have  long  sojourned  among  men  who  have  been  called 
Christians.  You  have  seen  much  evil  in  them,  and  they  have 
seen  much  in  you.  The  history  of  your  own  nation,  and  that  of 
every  other,  confirms  one  of  the  leading  doctrines  of  both  your 
and  our  scriptures — the  depravity  of  human  nature.  But,  in  your 
commerce  with  mankind,  you  must  have  had  opportunity  of  dis- 
tinguishing between  nominal  and  serious  Christians.  Great  num- 
bers in  your  nation,  even  in  its  best  days,  were  wicked  men  ;  and 
great  numbers  in  every  nation,  at  present  are  the  same.  But  can- 
not you  perceive  a  people  scattered  through  various  denomina- 
tions of  Christians,  who  fear  God  and  regard  man  ;  who  instead  of 
treating  you  with  a  haughty  contempt,  as  being  strangers  scattered 
among  the  nations,  discover  a  tender  regard  toward  you  on  that 
very  account ;  who,  while  they  are  grieved  for  the  hardness  of 


ADDRESS  TO  TIIK  JF.WS.  193 

your  heart?;,  aad  hurt  nt  your  scornful  rejection  of  Iliui  uliuin 
their  soul  lovetb,  are  nevertheless  ardently  desirous  of  your  salva- 
tion ?  Arc  you  not  nciiuaintcd  with  Christians,  whose  utmost  re- 
venge, it'  they  could  havo  tlieir  will  of  you,  for  all  your  hard 
speeches,  would  be  to  he  instrumer)t  d  in  turning  you  from  what 
they  believe  to  be  the  {unvor  of  Satan,  unto  God  ? 

Let  me  farther  appeal  to  you.  Whether  Christians  of  this  des 
cription  be  not  the  true  children  of  Abraham,  the  true  successors  oi 
your  patriarchs  and  prophets,  rather  than  those  of  an  opposite 
spirit,  though  literally  dcbceuded  from  their  loins.  You  must  be 
aware,  that  even  in  the  times  of  David,  a  genuine  Israelite  was  a 
man  of  a  pure  heart  ;  and  in  the  times  of  the  prophets,  apostate  Is- 
raelites were  accounted  as  Ethiopians.*  Your  ancestors  were 
men  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy  :  but  where  will  you 
now  look  for  such  characters  among  you  as  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  ;  as  Samnel,  David,  Hezekiah  and  Josiah  ;  as  Daniel, 
Ezra,  Nehemiah,  and  many  others  ?  While  you  garnish  their  sep- 
ulchres, have  you  not  manifestly  lost  their  spirit ;  This  is  a  fact 
that  ought  to  alarm  you,  and  lead  you  seriously  to  examine  wheth- 
er you  have  not  forsaken  their  faith.  There  is  one  thing  which 
has  particularly  struck  my  mind,  and  which  I  would  earnestly  re- 
commend to  your  consideration  ;  namely,  the  temper  of  modern 
Infidels  toward  your  fathers,  toward  you,  and  toward  us. 

You  need  not  be  told  that  deistical  writers  invariably  treat  your 
fathers  with  scorn  and  dislike.  Just  as  Appion  and  other  Greek 
writers  poured  contempt  upon  your  nation  ;  just  as  the  more 
ancient  Moabites  reproached,  and  proudly  magnified  themselves 
against  the  people  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  ;t  so  do  all  our  modern  In- 
fidels. But  from  the  lime  that  your  fathers  rejected  Him  in  whom 
we  believe  as  the  Lord  Messiah,  though  you  have  been  exposed  to 
the  chastisements  of  heaven,  and  to  much  injurious  treatment  from 
pretended  Christians;  yet  Deists,  the  common  enemies  of  revela- 
tion, have  been,  comparatively  speaking,  reconciled  to  you.  So, 
however,  it  appears  to  me.  I  do  not  recollect  to  have  met  with  a 
single  retlection  upon  you  in  any  of  their  writings.     On  the  ron- 

*  Pii.  Ixxiii.  2      Amosix.  7.  t  Zepli    ii.  10 

Vol.  III.  25 


194  ADDRESS  TO  THF,  JEWS. 

trary,  they  seem  to  feel  themselves  near  akin  to  you.  Your  enmi- 
ty to  Jesus  seems  to  be  the  price  of  their  forgiveness  :  like  Herod 
and  Pontius  Pilate,  you  became  friends  in  the  day  of  his  crucifix- 
ion. Mr.  Paine,  though  his  writings  abound  in  sneers  against  your 
nation,  |)nor  to  its  rejection  of  Christ,  yet  appears  to  be  well  re- 
conciled to  you,  and  willing  to  admit  your  lame  account  of  the  bo- 
dy of  Jesus  being  stolen  away*  Ought  you  not  to  be  alarmed  at 
these  things  ?  Seriously  examine  whether  you  have  not  forsaken 
the  God  of  your  fathers,  and  become  the  friends  and  allies  of  men 
who  hate  both  Him  and  them. 

The  hatred  of  Intidels  has  long  been  transferred  from  you  to  us. 
Whether,  in  the  language  of  the  New  Testament,  we  be  the  true 
children  of  Abraham,  or  not,  we  inherit  that  reproach  and  dislike 
from  unbelievers  which  was  heretofore  the  portion  of  the  godly 
Israelites.  On  what  account  were  your  fathers  hated  by  the 
practical  atheists  of  their  day?  Was  it  not  because  of  their  rfcwo- 
tedness  to  God?  It  was  this  in  David  that  provoked  the  resent- 
ment of  the  children  of  Belial,  and  rendered  them  his  determined 
enemies.  They  were  continually  jeering  at  his  jvayers,  his  tears, 
and  his  trust  in  Jehovah  ;  turning  that  which  in  reality  was  his 
glory  into  shame  ;  and  afflicting  him  in  his  affliction,  by  scornfully 
inquiring,  Where  is  fhy  God?]  Such  is  the  treatment  which  the 
godly  part  of  your  nation  received  in  all  ages,  both  from  heathens 
abroad  and  impious  characters  at  home  ;|  and  such  is  the  treatment 
which  serious  Christians  continue  to  receive  from  ungodly  men  to 
this  day ;  but  are  you  hated  and  reproached  on  this  account  ? 

Of  late  years  it  has  been  frequently  pleaded,  that  the  principal 
objections  to  your  embracing  the  Christian  religion,  are  found  in 
the  doctrines  of  the  trinity,  the  deity  of  Christ,  and  atonement  by 
his  death  ;  doctrines  which  the  greater  part  of  Christians  hold 
to  be  taught  in  the  New  Testament.  But  those  who  impute  your 
conduct  to  these  causes,  must  have  nearly  as  mean  an  opinion  of 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I.  pp.  6, 7. 

+  Psa.xxii.  8.  iv.  2.  xlii.  3.  xxix.  18.  xl.  15. 

±  Psa.  Ixix.  10.  cxv.  2.     Joel  ii.  17.       Micah.  vii..  8— -10.  Isa.  Ixvi.  6. 


AUDRLSS  TO  THE  JEWS. 


19S 


Nour  ralioiialily,  as  tliey  have  of  ours;  with  whom,  ihey  say, 
'*  there  is  no  reasoiiins; ;  ami  thiit  ive  are  to  be  pitied,  and  consid- 
ered as  under  a  debility  of  mind  in  one  respect,  however  sensible 
and  rational  inolbt•r^."*  What  have  the  principles,  which  in  our 
jud^^ment  are  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  to  do  with  your  ac- 
knowledi^ing  Jesus  to  be  ihe  Messiah,  and  the  Christian  relii^ion  to 
beot'tiod.'  Let  these  positions  be  admitted,  and  examine  the 
New  Testament  for  yourselves.  If  you  wore  not  considered  as 
posstssiii"  a  suflkient  dcsree  ni'  good  sense  to  distinp;uisli  between 
Christianity  and  the  creed  of  any  particular  party  of  Chrialiaug, 
it  is  surprising  that  rational  Christians  should  think  of  writing  ad- 
dresses to  you.  Tor  our  parts,  we  could  almost  be  satisfied  that 
you  should  decide  the  controversy,  whether  the  doctrines  before- 
mentioned  be  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  or  not  ?  As  to  remo- 
ving these  stuiTiblin'^-blocks,  as  some  call  them,  out  of  your  way, 
we  have  no  inclination  to  attempt  it.  Only  imbibe  the  spirit  of 
your  ancestors,  and  they  will  i^resenlly  cease  to  be  stumbling- 
blocks.  Believe  Moses,  and  you  will  believe  Jesus  ;  and  believ- 
ing Jesus,  neither  his  claiming  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  con- 
sequently equal  with  God,  nor  his  insisting  upon  his  Jlesh  being  the 
life  of  the  world,  will  olTend  you.  On  the  contrary,  whenever  the 
spirit  of  grace,  and  of  supplication  is  poured  out  upon  you,  and 
you  come  to  look  on  him  whom  you  have  pierced,  and  mourn, 
you  will  join  in  the  worship  of  him  ;  and  the  doctrine  of  atone- 
ment by  his  death  will  be  to  you  a  fountain  set  open  for  sin  and  for 
unclcanness.t 

You  live  in  expectation  of  being  restored  to  your  own  land. 
We  expect  the  same  thing,  and  rejoice  in  the  belief  of  it.  The 
Old  and  the  New  Testament  agree  in  predicting  it.J  But  the  same 
prophets  tiiat  have  foretold  your  return  to  Canaan,  have  also  fore- 
told that  you  must  be  brought  to  repent  of  your  sins,  and  to  seek 
Jehovah  your  God,  and  Dacid  your  king.^  Your  holy  land  «ill 
ivail  you  but  little,  unless  }ou  be  a  holy  people. 

*  LinJsey'sChatechists,  Inquiry  (J.  t  Zecli.  xiii.  10 — 14.  xiii.  1 

t  Ezek.  XX  xvi  .     Luke  xxi.  "JJ  *  Hos.  iii.  C 


J9(j  ADDRESS  TO  CHRISTIANS. 

Finally  :  You  admit,  I  suppose.,  that  though  we  should  err  in 
believing  Jesus  to  be  the  Messiah  ;  yet,  while  we  deny  ungodli- 
ness and  worldly  lusts,  and  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly 
in  this  present  world  ;  it  is  an  error  that  may  not  affect  our  eter- 
nal salvation  :  but  if  the  error  be  on  your  side,  on  what  ground 
do  you  stand  ?  Your  fathers,  in  this  case,  were  murderers  of  the 
Prince  of  Life  ;  and  by  adopting  their  principles,  you  make  the 
deed  your  own.  His  blood  lies  upon  you,  and  upon  your  chil- 
dren. The  terrible  destruction  of  your  city  by  the  Romans,  and 
the  hardness  of  heart  to  which  you  have  been  given  up,  are 
symptoms  of  that  wrath  which  is  come  upon  you  to  the  uttermost. 
Repent  and  believe  the  gospel,  that  you  may  escape  the  wrath  to 
come  ! 


TO  CHRIS  riANS. 


Beloved  Brethren 


It  is  witnessed  of  David,  that  he  served  the  will  of  God  in  his 
generation.  Every  generation  has  its  peculiar  work.  The  pre- 
sent age  is  distinguished,  you  know  by  the  progress  of  infidelity. 
We  have  long  been  exempted  fiom  persecution  ;  and  he  whose 
fan  is  in  his  hand,  perceiving  his  floor  to  stand  in  need  of  purging, 
seems  determined  by  new  trials  to  purge  it.  The  present  is  a 
winnowing  time.  If  we  wish  to  serve  the  will  of  God  in  it,  we 
must  carefully  attend  to  those  duties  which  such  a  state  of  things 
imposes  upon  us. 

In  the  first  place,  Let  us  look  well  to  the  sincerity  of  our  hearts  ; 
and  see  to  it,  that  our  Christie  nit  1/  is  vital,  practical,  and  decided. 
An  army  called  to  engage  after  a  long  peace,  requires  to  be  exam- 
ined, and  every  one  should  examine  himself  Many  become  sol- 
diers when  danger  is  at  a  distance.  The  mighty  host  of  Midi- 
anitos  were  overcome  by  a  select  band.  A  proclamation  was  is- 
sued through  the  army  of  Israel,  "Whosoeveris  fearful  and  afraid, 


ADDRESS  TO  CHRISTIANS.  J  97 

let  him  return  :"  and  after  a  gieat  diminution  from  cowardice,  the. 
rest  must  be  brought  down  to  the  water  to  be  tried.  Such,  or  near- 
ly such,  may  be  the  trials  of  the  church  :  those  who  overcome, 
may  be  reduced  to  a  small  company  in  comparison  of  those  who 
have  borne  the  Christian  name.  So  indeed  the  scriptures  inform 
us.  They  that  obtain  the  victory  with  Christ  are  called,  and  cho- 
sen, and  faithful.* 

The  manner  in  which  things  of  late  ages  have  moved  on  in  the 
religious  world,  has  been  such  as  to  adroit  of  a  large  outer  court,  il° 
I  may  so  speak,  for  a  sort  of  half- worshippers.  A  general  relig- 
ious reputation  has  been  hitherto  obtained  at  a  small  expense. 
But  should  infidelity  prevail  throughout  Christendom,  as  it  has  in 
France,  the  nominal  extent  of  the  Christian  church  has  been 
greatly  reduced.  In  taking  its  dimensions,  the  outer-court  will, 
as  it  were,  be  left  out,  and  given  to  the  Gentiles.  In  this  case, 
you  must  come  in  or  keep  out  ;  be  one  thing  or  another  ;  a  de- 
cided friend  of  Christ  or  an  avowed  Infidel.  It  is  possible,  that 
the  time  may  come  when  all  parties  will  be  reduced,  in  effect,  to 
two — believers  and  unbelievers. 

"  Never,"  says  a  late  mabterly  and  moving  writer,  "  were  times 
more  eventful  and  critical,  than  at  present ;  never  were  appear- 
ances more  singular  and  interesting  in  the  political,  or  in  the  re- 
ligious world.  You  behold  on  the  one  hand,  infidelity  with  dread- 
ful irruption,  extending  its  ravages  far  and  wide  ;  and  on  the  oth- 
er, an  amassing  accession  of  zeal  and  activity  to  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tianity. Error  in  all  its  forms  is  assiduously  and  successfully 
propagated  ;  but  the  progress  of  evangelical  truth  is  also  great. 
The  number  ol"  the  apparently  neutral  party  daily  diminishes  ; 
and  met!  are  now  either  becoming  worshippers  of  the  God  and 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or  receding  fast  through  the 
mists  of  scepticism  into  the  dreary  regions  of  speculative  and 
practical  atheism.  It  seems  as  if  Christianity  and  Infidelity  were 
mustering  each  the  hosts  of  the  battle,  and  preparing  for  some  great 
day  of  God.  The  enemy  is  come  in  like  a  flood  :  but  the  spirit 
f»f  the  Lord  hath  lifted  up  a  standard  against  him.     Who,  then,  is 

*  Rev.  zvu.  14. 


198  ADDRESS  TO  CHRISTIANS. 

on  the  Lord's  side  ?  Who  ? — Let  him  come  forth  to  the  help  of 
the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  ngainstthe  mighty  !"* 

Secondly:  Let  a  good  understanding  be  cidtivated  among  sincere 
Christians  of  different  denominations .  Let  the  friends  of  Christ 
know  one  another;  and  let  not  slighter  shades  of  difference  keep 
them  at  variance.  The  enemies  of  Christianity  know  how  to  avail 
themselves  of  our  discords.  The  union  which  is  here  recommend- 
ed, however,  is  not  a  merely  nominal  one,  much  less  one  that  re- 
quires a  sacrifice  of  principle.  Let  us  unite  so  far  as  we  can  act 
in  concert,  in  promoting  the  interest  of  Christ;  and  hold  ourselves 
©pen  to  conviction  with  regard  to  other  things.  Let  not  the  free 
discussion  of  our  differences  be  laid  aside,  or  any  such  connexion 
formed  as  shall  require  it:  only  let  them  be  conducted  with  mod- 
esty, frankness,  and  candour,  and  the  godly  will  find  their  account 
in  them.  Let  it  be  the  great  concern  of  all,  not  so  much  to  main- 
tain their  own  peculiarities,  as  to  know  and  practice  the  truth;  not 
so  much  to  yield,  and  come  nearer  to  other  denominations,  as  to 
approximate  towards  the  mind  of  Christ.  The  mind  of  Christ,  as 
expressed  in  his  doctrines  and  precepts,  must  be  the  central  point 
in  which  we  meet:  as  we  approach  this,  we  shall  come  nearer  to 
each  other.  So  much  agreement  as  there  is  among  us,  so  much 
is  there  of  union,  and  so  much  agreement  as  there  is  in  the  mind  of 
Christ,  so  much  of  Christian  union. 

Finally:  Let  not  the  heart  of  any  man  fail  him,  on  account  of  the 
high  tone  and  scornful  airs  assumed  by  Infidels.  The  reign  of  infi- 
delity may  be  extensive,  but  it  must  be  short.  It  carries  in  it  the 
seeds  of  its  own  dissolution.  Its  immoralities  are  such,  that  the 
world  cannot  long  sustain  them.  Scripture  prophecy  has  clearly 
foretold  all  the  great  governments  of  the  world,  from  the  time  of 
the  Jewish  Captivity  to  this  day — the  Babylonian,  Persian,  Mace- 
donian and  Roman;  together  with  the  ten  kingdoms  into  which  the 
last  of  these  empires  has  been  divided,  and  the  Papal  government 
which  sprung  up  among  them ;  but  it  makes  no  explicit  mention  of 
this.  It  has  no  individual  subsistence  given  it  in  the  system  of 
prophecy.     It  is  not  a  beast,  but  a  mere  putrid  excrescence  of  the 

*  Ferrier's  Two  Discourse?  at  Paisley,  iu  June,  1708. 


ADDRESS  TO  CHRISTIANS.  J99 

Papal  beast;  an  excB«sccnce  which,  thoumh  il  may  diffuse  death 
through  every  vein  of  the  body  on  which  it  jircw,  yet  shall  die 
along  with  it.  The  beast,  and  all  which  pcrlaiiis  to  him,  gucth  into 
perdition.*  There  is  no  space  of  time  allowed  for  this  govern- 
ment: no  sooner  is  it  said,  Babylon  is  fallen,  than  voices  are  heard 
in  heaven,  decl  \rin'j;  that  the  inai-riage  of  the  Lnmb  is  come  No 
sooner  does  the  judgment  sit,  to  take  away  the  dominion  of  the  little 
horn,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto  the  end,  than  it  follows,  And 
the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under 
the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High.] 

Popery  is  not  yet  destroyed,  thoii<rh  it  has  received  a  dead!) 
blow;  and  from  what  is  said  of  the  little  horn,  that  they  shall  take 
away  his  dominion,  fo  consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto  the  end,  it 
should  seem  that  its  overthrow  will  be  gradual.  While  this  is  ac- 
complishing, the  reign  of  infidelity  may  continue,  with  various  suc- 
cess; but  no  longer.  Oidy  let  us  watch  and  keep  our  garments 
clean,  (a  caution  given,  it  is  probable,  with  immediate  reference 
to  the  present  times,)  and  we  have  nothing  to  fear.  It  is  a  source 
of  great  consolation  that  the  last  of  the  four  beasts,  which  for  more 
than  two  thousand  years  have  persecuted  the  church,  and  oppres- 
sed mankind,  is  drawing  near  to  its  end.  The  government  that  shall 
next  prevail  will  be  that  of  Christ,  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting 
kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and  obey  him.  Even  so. 
Amen.  Blessed  be  his  glorious  name  forever;  and  let  the  whole 
earth  be  filled  with  his  glory;  Amen,  and  Amen  ! 

*Rev.  xvii.  8,  II. 
t  Dan.  vii.  26,  27.     The  writer  has  since  read  a  very  able  discourse  by  Mi . 
Nathan  Strong,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  entitled,  Political  Instruction  from 
the  Prophecies  of  God's  Word :  in  which  the  above  sentiments  are  stated 
with  "Teat  fnrco  and  evitlence. 


APOLOGY 

CriRISTiAN  MISSIONS  TO  INDIA 


PAiir  Tilt:  FiRs'i'. 


rOMPRlSlXG  AN   ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHAIRxMAN  01 
THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY, 

IN    ANSWER    TO 

MR.  TWINING; 

AND 

STRICTURES  ON  THK  PREFAC!:  OF  A  PAMPHLET, 

BY 

MAJOR  SrOTT  W  VRING- 


There  are  uo  such  things  done  :is  lliuu  sayest ;  but  thou  feigiicst  lUo.iu  out 
of  thine  own  heart.  Nkh  kmiah  . 

And  now,  I  say  unto  you,  refrain  from  these  men,  and  let  the:n  alone  ;  for 
if  this  counsel,  or  this  work,  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to  nought  :  but  if  it  be  iil 
(JOD,  ye  cannot  nvertlirow  it,  lest  h:ii)ly  ye  be  found  '?veu  to  fight  cigfaiiist 
GOD.  GxMKJAVi.. 

Vm,  .   in.  '20 


TO 


EDWARD  PARRY,  ESQ,. 

CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY. 


Sir, 

As  in  a  Letter  lately  addressed  to  you  by  Mr.  Thomas  Twining  , 
on  the  danger  of  interfering  in  the  religious  opinions  of  the  natives 
of  India,  there  is  a  reference  to  the  labours  of  the  Baptist  Mission- 
aries in  that  country,  you  will  not  consider  me,  I  hope,  as  obtru- 
ding myself  on  your  attention  while  I  offer  a  few  remarks  upon  it, 
and  upon  the  important  subject  which  it  embraces. 

It  is  true,  the  principal  part  of  Mr.  Twining's  pamphlet  is  di- 
rected against  The  Britisk  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  that  this 
has  been  sufficiently  answered  from  another  quarter  ;  but  though 
he  affects  "  not  to  know  these  Missionaries,"  yet  their  undertaking 
particularly  in  the  work  of  translating  the  scriptures,  has,  no  doubt, 
contributed  to  excite  his  alarm. 

If  by  "  interfering  in  the  religious  opinions  of  the  natives  of 
India,"  Mr.  Twining  means  nothing  more  than  the  dissemination 
of  the  Christian  faith  by  the  fair  methods  of  persuasion  ;  the  Bap- 
list  Missionaries,  and  those  of  every  other  denomination,  must  be 
acknowledged  to  have  interfered  ;  but  if  he  include  under  that 
term,  violence,  unfair  influence,  or  any  measures  subversive  of 
free  choice  ;  or  any  addresses,  either  in  speech  or  writing,  which 
have  endangered  the  peace  of  society,  they  have  not  interfered, 
nor  have  thev  any  desire  of  so  doing. 


204 


AN  ArOLOG^  I  Part  I. 


Whether  Mr.  Twining  has  chosen  thi^  ninhigiions  term,  that  he 
may  with  the  greater  ense  insinuate,  as  occasion  requires,  the  ob- 
noxious idea  of  a  design  to  overthro^v  the  Pagnn  and  Mahomedan 
religions  by  force,  I  !:hall  not  determine  ;  but  that  such  is  the  use 
tliat  is  made  of  it,  throughout  his  pamphlet,  is  clear.  *'  As  long," 
he  says,  "as  we  continue  to  govern  India  in  tlie  mild  and  tolerant 
spirit  of  Christianity,  we  may  govern  it  with  case  ;  but  if  ever  the 
fatal  day  shall  arrive  when  religious  innovation  «hall  set  her  foot  la 
that  country,  indignation  will  spread  from  one  end  of  Hindostan  to 
the  other."  (p.  30.)  Is  giving  the  scriptures,  then,  to  the  natives, 
in  their  own  languages,  and  olfering  to  instruct  them  in  their  lead- 
ing doctrines,  opposed  to  the  mild  and  tolerant  spirit  of  Christian- 
ity ?  If  it  be.  Sir,  neither  the  Founder  of  the  Christian  religion, 
nor  his  followers,  have  yet  understood  it.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is 
not  an  "  innovation  :'  the  fatal  day  has  arrived  more  than  a  cen- 
tury ago.  Mr.  Twining  "  hopes  our  native  subjects  in  India  will 
be  permitted  quietly  to  follow  their  own  religious  opinions."  (p. 
31.)  We  hope  so  too  ;  but  if  this  gentleman's  wishes  could  be 
realized,  we  should  not  be  permitted  to  follow  ours,  nor  to  recom- 
mend what  we  believe  to  be  of  eternal  importance,  to  our  fellow- 
men,  and  fellow-subjects.  Yet  this  is  all  we  desire.  If  Mi.«isiona- 
rics,  or  any  other  persons  on  their  behalf,  should  so  fir  forget  the 
principles  of  the  gospel,  as  to  aim  at  any  thing  beyond  it,  I  trust 
the  government  will  always  possess  wisdom  and  justice  sufficient 
to  counteract  them.  The  question,  ?ir,  which  Mr.  Twining  pro- 
poses to  submit  to  a  general  court  of  proprietors,  whatever  be  the 
terms  in  which  it  may  be  couched,  will  not  be,  whether  the  natives 
of  India  shall  continue  to  enjoy  the  most  perfect  toleration  ;   but, 

WHETHER    THAT  TOLERATION  t>HALr,    BE  EXTENDED    TO    CniUSTrAN 

Missionaries  ? 

I  have  observed,  with  pnin,  Sir,  of  late  years,  a  notion  of  toler- 
ation entertained  even  l>y  some  who  would  be  thought  its  firmest 
advocates,  which  tends  not  only  to  abridge,  but  to  subvert  it. 
They  have  no  objection  to  Christians  of  any  denomination  enjoy- 
ing their  own  opinions,  and,  it  may  be,  their  own  uorship;  but 
they  must  not  be  allowed  to  make  proselytes.  Such  appear  to  be  the 
nptiop.s  of  Mr.  Twining  and  his  friends.     They  do  not  propose  to 


Part  I.]  FOR  CHIIISTFAN  .^^IS^IO^•-.  j^.^ 

nercofiito  llip  Christians  of  Imlia,  proviilod  thoy  would  kpcp  tlieir 
Cliri««tianitv  to  ihomselves  ;  hut  thosouho  atlcmpt  to  convert  (itfifr.t. 
Arc  to  ho  oxtermiiiatrrJ.  Sir,  I  noed  not  say  to  you,  that  this  is  not 
toleration,  hut  ])iM-?eciilion.  Toloralion  is  a  1c2;al  permission  not 
only  to  eiiiov  our  own  i)rinci|)les  nnmolostP<l,  l)nt  to  make  use  of 
all  the  fair  inetms  ol'  persuasion  to  rerommPiul  them  to  other?. 
The  form.^r  is  1  iit  little  more  than  mii!;ht  he  enjoyed  in  countries 
Ihc  mo*t  (lisiin2;ni-;he(l  hy  persei^'ition  ;  for  few  wo'ild  wish  to  in- 
terrupt men.  so  long  ns  they  kept  their  reli'^ion  to  themselves.  Yet 
tliis  is  the  whole  of  whit  some  wojiM  wish  to  allow,  hoth  in  the 
\vAn*  and  West  Indie?,  In  former  times,  unbelievers  felt  the  need 
of  toleration  for  theinsehes,  nod  then  they  irenerally  advocated  it 
..n  behalf  of  others;  but  of  late,  owini  perhaps  to  the  increase  of 
(heir  numbers,  they  have  as-umeil  a  loftier  tone.  Now,  thouc^h 
for  political  reasons,  all  men  nui^^t  he  allowed  to  follow  their  own 
religion,  yet  thev  ivuil  tint  aim  at  inaktng  proselytes.  Men  who 
hive  no  belief  in  the  Christian  reli2;ion,  may  be  expected  to  have 
no  rejard  tor  it ;  and  where  this  is  the  race,  the  rights  of  conscience 
nill  be  but  little  re«pec(ed. 

So  fir  as  my  ob«erva(ioii'.'  extend,  lliese  remarks  are  applicable 
lo  Deists  in  ijcneral;  and  where  .'situations  are  favorable  to  their 
views,  they  may  be  expected  to  rise  in  their  demands.  In  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Carey,  now  before  mo,  of  a  late  date,  he  writes  as  fol- 
lows : — "  India  swarms  with  Deists;  and  Deists  are,  in  my  opin- 
ion, tlie  most  intolerant  of  mankind.  Their  jrreat  desire  is  to  ex- 
terminate true  religion  from  the  earth.  I  consider  the  alarms 
which  have  been  spread  through  India,  as  the  fabrications  ofthese 
men.  The  concurrence  of  two  or  three  circumstances,  in  point  of 
time;  namely,  the  massacre  at  V'ellore,  the  rebellious  disposition 
of  (he  inhabitants  in  some  parts  of  Mysore,  and  tlie  public  adver- 
licpments  for  subscriptions  to  the  oriental  translations,  have  fur- 
nished them  with  occasion  to  represent  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity among  the  natives,  as  dangerous.'" 

Wh'le  Mr.  Carey  was  writing  this  letter,  Sir,  he  might  not  be 
.iware  that  a  number  of  tliese  men  were  preparing  to  embark  for 
f>urcpe,  with  a  view  to  spread  the  alarm  at  home.  Assuredly  they 
have  a  raii<:e  in  •rhirh  thri/  are  ru^nircd^  ac  well  a*;  the  Kible  Soci- 


20fi  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

fty;  and  are  not  wanting  in  zeal  to  support  it.  Mr.  Twining 
would  be  thought  a  Christian:  but,  if  so,  in  what  cause  is  he  enga- 
ged ?  He  may  pretend  that  he  is  only  pleading  for  toleration;  but, 
in  fact,  he  is  pleading  for  the  exclusion  of  what  he  acknowledges 
to  be  light  and  truth,  and  for  the  refusal  of  toleration  (o  the  religion 
of  his  Maker. 

As  "  the  religious  opinions  and  customs  of  the  natives  of  India" 
are  a  subject  on  which  Mr.  Twining's  feelings  are  so  "  particular- 
ly alive,"  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  stale  what  a  few  of  these  opinions 
are.  It  may  not  be  necessary,  Sir,  for  your  information;  but  some 
persons  into  whose  hands  this  pamphlet  may  fall,  may  be  the  bet- 
ter able  to  judge  of  the  question  at  issue. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  the  Hindoos  acknowledge  one  Supreme 
God:  they  do  not  appear,  however,  to  worship  Him,  but  certain 
!<ubordinate  powers,  which,  they  say,  proceeded  from  him.  Of 
these,  the  three  principal  are  denominated  Birmha,  the  creator  of 
all;  VisiiNOO,  the  preserver  of  all;  and  Seeb,  the  destroyer  of  all. 
Birmha  is  not  worshipped  at  all:  Vishnoo  only  by  a  few;  but  Seeb 
(the  destroyer)  by  almost  all:  their  worship,  therefore,  is  chieflv 
the  effect  of  superstitious/ear.<f.  The  foulest  vices  are  ascribed  to 
these  subordinate  deities  in  their  own  shasters;  but  that,  which  if 
sin  in  men,  they  say,  is  not  sin  in  the  gods.  Besides  these,  they 
worship  innumerable  inferior  deities,  called  deltas,  chiefly,  if  not 
entirely,  under  an  idea  that  it  is  in  their  power  to  do  them  harm. 
The  lusts,  quarrels,  and  other  vices  of  these  debtas  also  fill  their 
shasters,  as  their  images  do  the  country.  The  chief  use  that  they 
seem  to  make  of  the  one  Supreme  God  is  to  ascribe  to  him  all  the 
evil  that  they  commit,  and  to  persuade  themselves  that  they  are 
not  accountable  beings. 

They  have  a  most  firm  faith  in  conjuration,  in  lucky  and  un- 
lucky days;  and  in  almost  all  their  civil  concerns  act  under  its  in- 
fluence. 

A  considerable  part  of  their  religion  consists  in  self-torment. 
One  will  hold  up  a  hand  till  it  is  grown  stifl",  and  he  is  incapable  of 
taking  it  down  again;  another  will  lie  upon  the  points  of  iron  spikes, 
just  so  blunt  as  not  to  pierce  him  to  death,  and  this  for  years  to- 
gether; others,  on  certain  days  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  year,  are 


Part  l.j  tUR  CHRISTIAN  iVlISSIONb.  097 

suspended  m  the  air  by  sharp  iron  hooks,  stuck  thruugli  the  skin 
on  each  side  of  their  back,  and  continue  swinging  round  in  that 
position  from  Civo  to  fifteen  minutes.  At  the  worship  of  Jugger- 
naut, whose  temple  is  in  Orissa,  this  massy  wooden  god  is  borne 
in  a  carriage,  drawn  by  the  multitude;  and  while  the  air  resounds 
with  their  shouts,  happy  are  those  who  tlu'ow  themselves  under 
the  wheels  to  be  crushed  to  death  !  This,  and  every  other  spe- 
cies of  self-torment  and  self-murder,  gains  admiration  from  the 
spectators. 

Besides  this,  it  is  well  known  to  be  a  part  of  their  religion  to 
favour  the  burning  of  widows  with  the  bodies  of  their  deceased 
husbands.  Their  shasters  pronounce  this  to  be  a  grcui  virtue, 
and  to  render  them  a  kind  of  celestial  hcitigs.  And  lest  the  circum- 
stance of  absence  at  the  time  of  the  husband's  death  should  pre- 
vent it,  their  laws  prescribe  as  follows:  "  If  the  wife  be  within 
one  day's  journey  of  the  place  where  her  husband  dies,  the  burn- 
ing of  his  corpse  shall  be  deferred  one  day  for  her  arrival.  If  he 
die  in  another  country,  the  virtuous  wife  shall  take  any  of  hi? 
ejects,  a  sandal  for  instance,  and  binding  it  on  her  thigh,  shall  en- 
ter the  fire  with  it."  Thus  careful  are  these  sacred  laws  to  se- 
cure their  victim.  And,  as  if  it  were  meant  to  outrage  every 
vestige  of  humanity,  and  to  refine  upon  cruelty,  it  is  an  establish- 
ed law,  that  the  eldest  son,  or  nearest  relation,  shall  set  fire  to  the 
pile  ! 

Great  numbers  of  infants  also  are  thrown  into  the  river,  as  of- 
ferings to  the  goddess  ;  and  others,  who  refuse  their  mother's 
milk,  are  frequently  hung  up  in  a  basket  on  the  branch  of  a  tree, 
to  be  devoured  by  ants,  or  birds  of  prey  '. 

Whether  all  these  customs  be  proper  objects  of  toleration,  may 
admit  of  a  doubt.  The  British  government  in  India  seems  to  have 
thought  otherwise.  The  Governor  General  in  Council,  on  Aug. 
20,  1802,  is  said  to  have  passed  a  decree  declaring  some  of  them 
to  be  murder.  We  leave  this,  however,  to  the  civil  authorities. 
Our  object  is  confined  to  remonstrance,  persuasion,  and  the  exhi- 
bition of  truth  :  and  surely,  if  it  be  possible  by  such  means  to  in- 
duce a  people  or  any  part  of  a  people,  (0  cast  away  these  practices, 
it  must  be  so  far  favourablo  to  human  happiness.     If,  Sir,  there 


208  ■^'N'  APOLOGY  [Part.  L 

were  no  hereafter,  ami  we  were  merely  to  consult  our  own  na- 
tional interest,  it  were  worth  while,  as  far  as  possible,  to  endeav- 
our to  mitigate  these  evils  :  but  if  the  good  of  the  governed  be 
allowed  to  have  place  in  a  government,  it  is  still  more  so  :  and  if 
there  be  a  judgment  to  come,  where  governors  and  governed  must 
each  appear  and  give  an  account,  it  must  be  an  object  of  the  first 
importance.  At  that  bar,  Sir,  the  adversaries  of  those  who  peace- 
fully endeavour  to  bring  off  the  Hindoos  from  these  abominations, 
will  be  ashamed  to  show  their  fl^ces! 

1  may  be  told,  that  thii  particulars  above  referred  to  are  the 
most  offensive  parts  of  the  system,  and  that  other  parts  of  it 
may  be  very  good.  It  is  true  there  are  degrees  in  evil.  All 
things  pertaining  to  Hindooism  may  not  be  equallj'  shocking  to 
the  feelings  of  an  enlightened  mind.  I  might  safely  affirm,  how- 
ever, with  Dr.  Buchanan,  "  The  Hindoos  have  no  moral  gods  ;  ' 
neither  does  any  part  of  their  religion  produce  a  moral  impression 
oil  their  minds,  but  the  contrary.  As  men,  they  are  not  worse 
than  other  men  :  but  by  their  superstitions  they  are  becoming  ex- 
ceedingly corrupt. 

•'  The  natives  of  India,"  Mr.  Twining  tells  us,  ''  are  a  religious 
people  ;  and  in  this  respect  they  differ,  he/ears,  from  the  inhab- 
itants of  this  country.  If,  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  country, 
he  mean  those  Christians  who  are  alarmed  at  the  progress  of 
Christianity,  1  fear  so  too.  If  the  religion  of  the  native's  of  India, 
however,  have  no  influence  on  their  morals,  unless  it  be  to  cor- 
rupt them,  it  will  argue  nothing  in  its  favour.  And  that  this  is  the 
case,  every  friend  to  the  morality  of  the  New  Testament,  who  has 
resided  in  India,  can  hear  witness.  I  have  read  enough,  Sir,  of 
the  communications  of  men  of  this  description,  to  make  me  disre- 
gard the  praises  bestowed  on  the  virtues  of  these  people  by  oth- 
ers. I  find  these  praises  proceed  either  from  deisticai  writers, 
whose  manifest  design  is  to  depreciate  the  value  of  Christianity, 
or  from  persons  residing  in  the  country,  who,  "  despairing,"  as 
Dr.  Buchanan  says,  "of  the  intellectual  or  moral  improvement  of 
the  natives,  are  content  with  an  obsequious  spirit  and  manual  ser- 
vice. These  they  call  the  virtues  of  the  Hindoo  ;  and  after 
twenty  year's  sei-vicc,  praise  their  domestic  for  his  virtues.'' 


Part  1. 1  FDR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 


209 


"  I  know  not,"'  says  Bcrnier,  an  intelligent  French  traveller, 
"whether  there  be  in  the  world  a  more  covetous  and  sordid  na- 
tion.— The  brahmans  keeji  these  people  in  their  errors  and  super- 
stitions, and  scruple  not  to  commit  tricks  and  villanies  so  infamous, 
that  I  could  never  have  believed  them,  if  I  had  not  made  an  ample 
inquiry  into  them."* 

— "A  race  of  people,"  says  Governor  Holwell,  "who  from 
their  infancy  are  utter  strane;ers  to  the  idea  of  common  faith  and 
honesty.  This  is  the  situation  of  the  bulk  of  the  people  of  Hin- 
dustan, as  well  as  of  the  modern  brahmans  ;  amongst  the  latter,  if 
we  except  one  in  a  thousand,  we  give  them  over  measure.  The 
(ientoos,  in  general,  are  as  degenerate,  superstitious,  litijious,  and 
wicked  a  people,  as  any  race  of  people  in  the  known  world,  if  not 
eminently  more  so,  especially  the  common  run  of  brahmans  ;  and 
we  can  truly  aver,  that  during  almost  five  years  that  we  presided 
in  the  Judicial  Cutchery  Court  of  Calcutta,  never  any  murder,  or 
other  atrocious  crime  came  before  us,  but  it  was  proved,  in  the 
end,  a  brahman  was  at  the  bottom  of  it."t 

"  A  man  must  be  lon^;  acquainted  with  them,"  says  Sir  John 
Shore,  Governor  General  of  Bengal,  "  before  he  can  believe  them 
capable  of  that  barefaced  falsehood,  servile  adulation,  and  deliber- 
ate deception,  which  they  daily  practise.  It  is  the  business  of  all 
from  the  Kyott  to  the  Uewan,  to  conceal  and  deceive:  the  sim- 
jilest  matters  of  fact  are  designedly  covered  with  a  veil,  through 
which  no  human  understanding  can  penetrate. "| 

"Lying,  theft,  whoredom,  and  deceit,"  says  Mr.  Carey,  "are 
sins  for  which  the  Hindoos  are  notorious.  There  is  not  one  man 
in  a  thousand  who  does  not  make  lying  his  constant  practice. 
Their  thoughts  of  God  are  so  very  light,  that  they  only  consider 
him  as  a  sort  of  plaything.  Avarice  and  servility  are  so  united  in 
almost  every  individual,  that  cheating,  juggling,  and  lying,  are  es- 
teemed no  sins  with  them  ;  and  the  best  among  them,  though  they 

*  Voyages  de  Francois  Bcrnier,  Tome  I.  pp.  150.  162,  et  Tome  II.  p.  105. 

t  Uol well's  Historical  Events,  Vol.  I.  p.  228.  Vol.  II.  p.  151. 

I  Parliamentary   Prnceedings  against  .Mr.    Hastings,  Appendix  to  Vol.  IJ. 
p.  65. 

Vol..   Ml  27 


210  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

speak  ever  so  great  a  falsehood,  yet  it  is  not  considered  as  an  evil, 
unless  you  first  charge  them  to  speak  the  truth.  When  they  de- 
fraud you  ever  so  much,  and  you  charge  them  with  it,  they  coolly 
answer,  '  It  is  the  custom  of  the  country.'  Were  you  to  charge 
any  company  often  men  with  having  amongst  them  liars,  thieves, 
whoremongers,  and  deceitful  characters,  however  improper  it 
might  be,  owing  to  your  want  of  proof,  yet  there  would  be  little 
probability  of  your  accusing  them  falsely.  All  the  good  that  can 
with  justice  be  said  in  favour  of  them  is,  they  are  not  so  ferocious 
as  many  other  heathens." 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  Mahometans  ;  but  it  is  well  known 
that  they  are  not  behind  the  Hindoos  in  superstition,  and  greatly 
exceed  them  in  ferocity,  pride,  and  intolerance. 

In  short,  Sir,  to  every  European  who  places  virtue  in  the  fear  of 
God  andti  regard  to  men,  and  not  in  that  which  merely  contributes 
to  his  own  interest  and  inclination,  the  introduction  of  the  means 
of  Christianity,  among  both  Hindoos  and  Mahometans,  must  appear 
a  matter  of  national  importance.  Christianity  might  not  be  em- 
braced, at  first,  by  the  greater  part ;  but  it  would,  nevertheless, 
have  a  powerful  influence  on  society  ;  not  only  on  those  who 
believed  it,  but,  by  way  of  example,  on  those  who  believed  it  not. 

But  Mr.  Twining  professes  to  be  alarmed  at  the  measure,  as 
dayigeroua  to  the  British  interests  in  India.  He  asserts  this  again 
and  again  ;  but  what  has  he  done  beyond  asserting  it.  Has  he  pro- 
duced a  single  fact  that  can  bear  upon  the  subject ;  or  preferred  a 
single  charge  against  the  conduct  of  the  Missionaries?  Neither 
the  one  nor  the  other.  It  is  rather  surprising,  indeed,  that  he 
should  not  have  discovered  something  on  which  to  found  the 
appearance  of  a  charge  ;  for  I  am  not  ignorant.  Sir,  that  the  Mis- 
sionaries have  on  some  occasions  felt  much,  and  spoken  in  strong 
language.  They  have  frequently  seen  females  burnt  alive,  and 
have  remonstrated  against  the  horrid  deed,  as  an  act  of  murder; 
taking  occasion  also  from  thence  (o  prove  to  the  people,  that  such 
a  religion  could  not  be  of  God.  If,  at  such  times,  there  had  been 
somewhat  of  a  local  tumult,  there  had  been  nothing  surprising  in 
it.     But  the  truth  is,  no  such  tumult  has  ever  occurred  ;  nor  have 


Part  I.]  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS,  oj  l 

any  meaus   which  thay  have  used,  so   much  as  cii(lano;creil  their 
own  safely. 

Mr.  Twining  speaks  o[  ulanns  among  the  nalives  ;  but  what  are 
they  ?  When,  or  whore  did  they  nianil'esl  themselves  ?  If,  by 
"ahirms,"  he  mean  a  conviction  that  their  principles  will  gradu 
ally  fall  before  the  lii!;h(  of  the  gospel,  there  is  some  foundation  for 
what  he  says  ;  for  considerable  numbers  of  them  have  calmly 
acknowledged  as  much  as  this.  But  if  he  mean,  that,  on  account 
of  any  thing  done  or  doino;  by  the  Missionaries,  thty  are  appre- 
hensive of  their  religion  being  suppressed  by  authority,  there  i* 
no  proof  of  the  fact,  nor  so  much  as  an  attempt  to  prove  it.  Noth- 
mg  can  furnish  stronger  evidence  of  Mr.  Twining's  want  of  mate- 
rials of  this  kind,  than  his  reference  to  ''  the  recent  catastrophes 
of  Buenos  Ayres,  Rosetta,  and  Vellore."  (p.  27.)  You  need  not 
be  told.  Sir,  that  none  of  these  catastrophes  were  produced  by  an 
attempt  to  recommend  our  religious  principles. 

That  alarms  may  exist  in  India  is  very  possible  ;  but  if  such 
there  be,  they  are  of  a  date  posterior  to  the  Vellore  mutiny,  and 
must  be  traced,  it  is  probable,  to  the  causes  which  produced  that 
melancholy  event.  That  the  labours  of  the  Missionaries,  either 
in  Bengal,  or  on  the  Coast,  have  been  productive  of  any  such 
effect,  remains  to  be  proved.  The  only  alarm  which  they  have 
excited,  will  be  found  in  the  minds  of  Europeans,  who,  passing 
under  the  name  of  Christians,  are  tremblingly  alive  to  the  danger 
of  Christianity  making  progress  in  the  earth. 

If,  by  "  the  light  and  truth  into  which  the  omnipotent  power 
of  heaven  may  some  time  lead  these  people,"  Mr.  Twining  mean 
Christianity,  his  pamphlet  exhibits,  to  say  the  least,  an  awkward 
association  of  ideas.  Of  Mr.  Twining,  I  know  nothing  but  from 
the  part  he  has  taken  in  tliis  business,  and  therefore  can  have  no 
personal  disrespect  towards  him  :  but  I  cannot  understand.  Sir, 
how  a  Christian  could  be  disgusted  with  the  idea  expressed  by  a 
Swabian  Catholic,  of  "  the  great  shepherd  and  bishop  of  souls 
gathering  together  his  sheep  from  all  nations  and  religions,  lan- 
guages, and  kingdoms  :"  (pp.  9,  10.)  how,  in  searching  for  some- 
thing which  the  British  nation  values  as  the  Hindoos  do  their 
Shasters,  and  the  Mahometans  their  Koran,  he  should  overlook 


212  AN  APOLOGV  [PartL 

the  Bible,  and  instance  in  "  Magna  Charla  ;"  (p  30.)  liow  he  can 
be  shocked  at  the  downfall  of  Mabometanism  ;  (p.  17.)  how  his 
feelings  can  be  so  "  particularly  alive"  on  the  religious  opinions 
of  the  natives  of  India  ;  (p.  29.)  and  above  all,  how  he  can  be  so 
alarmed  ?X  the  progress  of  Christianity.  It  is  true,  he  professes 
to  feel  on  this  subject  chiefly  from  his  "  extreme  apprehension  of 
the  fatal  consequences  to  ourselves."  But  if  so,  why  do  his 
alarms  extend  to  Turkey,  and  even  to  China?  (pp.  15.  17-)  Is 
be  afraid  that,  if  the  Mabometanism  of  the  one,  and  the  Paganism 
of  the  other,  should  give  place  to  the  gospel,  they  would  refuse  to 
trade  with  us  ?  Surely,  Sir,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  of  this 
gentleman's  being  "of  a  party,"  nor  of  what  that  party  is. 

May  I  not  take  it  for  granted.  Sir,  that  a  British  Government  can- 
not refuse  to  tolerate  Protestant  Missionaries  ;  that  a  Protestant 
Government  cannot  forbid  the  free  circulation  of  the  scriptures  ; 
that  a  Christian  Government  cannot  exclude  Christianity  from  any 
part  of  its  territories  ;  and  that  if,  in  addition  to  this,  the  measures 
which  have  of  late  been  pursued  in  India,  without  the  least  incon- 
venience arising  from  them,  can  be  proved  to  be  safe  and  uise, 
they  will  be  protected,  rather  than  suppressed  ?     I  trust  I  may. 

Permit  me,  Sir,  to  copy  an  extract  or  two  from  the  letters  of 
the  Missionaries  on  this  subject.  "  No  political  evil,"  says  Mr. 
Carey,  ''  can  reasonably  be  feared  from  the  spread  of  Christianity 
now  :  for  it  has  been  publicly  preached  in  different  parts  of  Ben- 
gal for  about  twenty  years  past,  without  the  smallest  symptom  ol 
the  kind.  Within  the  last  five  years,  an  edition  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, of  two  thousand  copies,  nearly  one  of  the  Pentateuch  of  a 
thousand,  one  of  Matthew  of  five  hundred,  and  one  of  the  Psalms 
and  Isaiah  of  a  thousand,  besides  many  copies  of  a  second  edition 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  Poetical  Books  of  scripture, 
from  Job  to  Canticles,  and  many  religious  tracts  have  been  distrib- 
uted among  the  natives  without  a  single  instance  of  disturbance, 
unless  the  abusive  language  of  a  few  loose  persons  may  be  so  cal- 
led. To  this  might  be  added,  the  experience  of  the  Missionaries 
on  the  Coast,  who  have  taught  Christianity  for  a  hundred  years, 
and  reckon  about  forty  thousand  persons  to  have  embraced  it. 
Such  long-continued  exertions  to  spread  the  gospeL  carried  on  to 


1'art  I.]  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  2\3 

such  an  extent,  and  in  such  dilTeront  situations,  witljout  j)ioducnij; 
the  smallest  inconvenience,  mny,  we  presume,  furnish  a  course  ot' 
experience  sufficient  to  remove  every  suspicion  of  political  evil 
arising  from  the  introduction  of  Christianity. 

"  The  tongue  of  slander  itself,"  says  Mr.  Marshrnan,  "  has  not 
been  able  to  charge  us,  nor  any  of  the  native  converts,  with  the 
least  deviation  from  the  laws  and  government  under  which  we  live. 
How  should  it  ;  when  we  are  devoted  from  our  very  hearts  to  the 
British  government ;  and  this,  not  from  a  blind  partiality,  but 
from  a  firm  conviction  of  its  being  a  blessing  to  the  country  ?  Had 
we  been  sent  hither  for  the  sole  purpose  of  conciliating  the  na- 
tives to  it,  and  of  supporting  it  by  every  means  in  our  power,  we 
could  not  have  been  more  cordially  attached  to  it,  nor  have  pur- 
sued a  line  of  conduct  more  adapted  to  the  end.  Nothing  will  so 
effectually  establish  the  British  dominion  in  India,  as  the  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity,  provided  it  be  merely  by  persuasion  ;  and 
nothing  is  more  safe,  and  under  a  divine  blessing,  more  easi/. 

With  regard  to  safety,  there  is  nothing  to  be  feared  from  the  at- 
tempt. 'J'he  Hindoos  resemble  an  immense  number  of  particles  of 
sand,  which  are  incapable  of  forming  a  solid  mass.  There  is  no 
bond  of  union  among  them,  nor  any  principle  capable  of  effecting 
it.  Their  hierarchy  has  no  head,  no  influential  body,  no  subor- 
dinate orders.  The  brahmans,  as  well  ii«;  the  nation  at  large,  are 
a  vast  number  of  disconnected  atoms,  totally  incapable  of  cohesion. 
In  this  cotintry,  sin  seems  to  have  givrn  the  fullest  sample  of  its 
disuniting,  debilitating  power.  The  children  are  opposed  to  the 
parents,  and  the  parents  to  the  children  ;  brother  totally  disregards 
brother ;  and  a  brahman  will  see  another  brahman  perish  with  the 
greatest  apathy.  Yea,  for  the  sake  of  a  little  gain,  a  brahman  will 
write  against  his  gods,  satisfying  himself  with  this,  that  the  sin  be- 
longs to  his  employer,  and  that  he  only  does  something  to  support 
himself.  When  to  this  are  added,  their  natur.tl  imbecility  and  the 
enervating  influence  of  climate,  it  will  i)e  evident  that  nothing  is 
less  to  be  apprehended  than  a  steady,  concerted  opposition  to 
the  spread  of  Christianity.  Nothing  will  ever  appear  beyond 
that  individual  contempt  and  hatred  of  the  gospel  which  are  insep 
arable  from  the  vicious  mind. 


214  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  F. 

"  Instead  of  the  introduction  of  Christianity  endangering  the 
safety  of  the  state,  the  danger  arises  from  the  other  side.  No  one, 
unacquainted  with  the  natives,  can  know  the  heart  of  an  idolater. 
We  have  about  a  hundred  servants  in  our  different  departments; 
and  they  have  been  treated  with  a  kindness  which,  in  England, 
would  have  conciliated  affection  and  created  attachment.  But  so 
far  are  these  effects  from  being  produced  in  them,  that  not  an  in- 
dividual can  be  found  amongst  them,  who  would  not  cheat  us  to 
any  extent ;  or  who  would  not  plunder  us  of  every  thing  we  have, 
were  it  in  their  power.  How  can  it  be  otherwise  ?  Their  reli- 
gion frees  them  from  every  tie  of  justice.  If  their  own  benefit  can 
be  secured  by  any  action,  this  renders  it  lawful,  or  at  least  venial, 
though  it  were  fraud,  robbery,  or  even  murder.  Often  have  we 
heard  it  affirmed,  that  a  robber  who  should  spend  the  whole  night 
in  the  most  atrocious  deeds,  and  secure  plunder  to  the  amount  of  a 
hundred  rupees,  would  wipe  off  all  the  stain  in  the  morning,  by 
giving  one  of  them  to  a  brahman  !  Attachment  to  a  master,  a  fam- 
ily, or  a  government  of  a  different  religion,  is  that  which  cannot  be 
produced  in  the  mind  of  a  Hindoo,  while  under  the  power  of  his 
gooroo  or  his  debta.  But  if  they  lose  cast,  and  embrace  Christian- 
ity, not  by  force,  but  from  pure  conviction,  they  become  other 
men.  Even  those  who,  as  it  may  prove,  have  not  embraced  it 
cordially,  are  considerably  influenced  by  it.  If  once  they  lose 
cast,  the  charm  is  broken,  and  they  become  capable  of  attachment 
to  government. 

"  These  remarks  are  abundantly  proved  by  what  is  seen  in  our 
native  converts.  We  have  baptized  above  a  hundred  of  them: 
and  we  dare  affirm,  that  the  Britieh  government  has  not  a  hundred 
better  subjects,  and  more  cordial  friends,  among  the  natives  of 
Hindostan.  The  gloomy  and  faithless  demon  of  superstition  is 
dethroned  from  their  hearts.  They  cannot  fear  a  brahman  nor  a 
debta,  as  heretofore.  While  they  feel  an  attachment  to  us,  to 
which  they  had  been  strangers,  they  are  also  cordially  attached  to 
the  governors  who  protect  them  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion, 
and  whom  they  consider  as  their  friends  and  brethren. 

"  Such  is  the  ease  with  which  Christianity,  under  the  divine 
blessing  could  be  disseminated,  that  it  may  seem  to  some  incredi- 


PAETl-j  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  015 

ble.  No  public  acts  of  government  are  necesrary.  It  is  not  ne- 
cessary that  government  should  appear  in  the  business;  and  much 
less  that  it  should  be  at  any  expense  whatever.  If  it  be  only  un- 
derstood that  no  one  shall  be  forbidden  to  teach  Christianity,  and 
no  one  but  the  evil  doer  receive  interruption  from  the  magistrate. 
the  work  will  go  on  in  the  most  gradual  and  yet  effectual  manner. 
God  is  raising  up  native  converts  of  character  and  talents  suited  to 
it.  It  is  possible  for  ten  of  these  brethren  to  enter  a  district,  to 
go  unobserved  through  the  principal  towns,  sit  down  in  a  private 
circle,  gently  reason,  convey  ideas  of  divine  truth,  aad  turn  per- 
sons from  darkness  to  light,  nearly  unobserved.  Thus  a  town,  a 
district,  a  couiitiy  could  be  leavened  with  the  blessed  gospel,  al- 
most without  the  knowledge  of  the  wealthy  and  the  great,  even  of 
llieir  own  countrymen. 

"  The  only  thing  necessary  for  European  Missionaries  is,  that 
as  long  as  they  deserve  the  confidence  of  government,  they  be 
permitted  to  fix  their  residence  in  those  places  which  will  enable 
(hem  to  exercise  a  nece.ssary  superintendence,  and  administer  sup- 
port to  these  native  brethren;  to  visit  the  societies  which  are  form- 
ed; and,  as  occasion  ofl'ers,  dispense  witli  prudence  the  word  of 
life.  It  were  the  ea.siest  thing  imaginable  for  government  to  ob- 
tain from  European  Mis^iionaries  the  most  ample  pledges  of  good 
behaviour,  and  to  withdraw  its  protection  the  moment  they  ceased 
to  deserve  it.  A  good  man  would  feel  a  pleasure  in  giving  such 
security;  and  what  is  more,  his  being  a  good  man  would  itself  be  a 
security.  What  security  could  have  been  exacted  from  a  Schwartz, 
equal  to  that  which  his  own  wise  and  benevolent  heart  afforded  ? 
Nor  is  this  peculiar  to  Schwartz;  it  is  the  feeling  of  every  real  Mis- 
sionary. 

"A  permission  to  itinerate  and  form  missionary  stations  in  the 
country,  so  far  from  being  injurious  to  the  British  government, 
would  advance  its  essential  interests.  In  every  Missionary  it  would 
have  a  friend;  a  friend  whose  influence  and  capacity  of  rendering 
service  would  be  constantly  increasing.  What  were  the  advanta- 
tagcs  which  the  English  derived  from  one  Schwartz,  in  the  Mysore 
country  ?  And  what  would  be  the  effect  of  their  having  at  this  mo- 
ment a  hundred  Schwartz's  in  India,  each  with  his  train  of  pious 


216  AX  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

peaceable,  loyal,  and  faithful  disciples  ?  These  messengers  of 
peace  and  love  (and  all  others  we  give  up)  would  endear  to  the  in- 
habiiimts  the  very  nation  to  which  they  belonged.  '  Who  are 
these,'  they  would  ask,  '  that  so  manifestly  seek  our  good,  and 
not  their  own  ?'  The  answer,  that  they  are  English,  must  exhibit 
an  idea  of  the  government  and  nation  which  the  natives  can  never 
have  displayed  before  their  eyes  too  often. 

"  But,  if  a  Missionary  could  so  far  forget  himself  and  his  object, 
as  to  cherish  a  spirit  inimical  to  government,  still,  one  would  sup- 
pose, his  own  interest  would  correct  him.  To  whom  are  he  and 
his  friends  indebted  for  security,  ?  Without  the  protection  of  gov- 
ernment, they  would  be  continually  in  danger  of  being  plundered 
and  massacred.  If,  however,  the  folly  of  any  one  should  render 
him  insensible  to  these  considerations,  he  must  abide  the  conse- 
quences.    Let  him  bear  his  own  burden." 

Sir,  f  cannot  persuade  myself  that  the  East  India  Company  will 
adopt  the  principles  of  Mr.  Twining.  They  have  too  much  good 
sense  to  be  alarmed  at  every  outcry ;  too  much  justice  to  ascribe 
danger  to  causes  from  which  it  never  arose;  and  too  much  wisdom 
to  banish  men,  who  have  always  approved  themselves  the  faithful 
friends  of  their  government.  Whatever  be  the  mind  of  individuals, 
1 -trust  that  neither  they,  nor  the  British  government,  as  a  body, 
are  prepared  to  prohibit  the  free  circulation  of  the  scriptures,  or 
the  temperate  propagation  of  Christianity. 

I  am  aware,  indeed,  that  persecution  has  of  late  made  its  appear- 
ance in  our  West  India  Colonies;  and  if  Mr.  Twining  and  his  party 
could  succeed,  there  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  we  should  see 
the  same  thing  in  the  East;  but  I  am  also  aware  that,  in  the  first 
instance,  it  was  disallowed  by  His  Majesty  in  Council;  and 
though  it  has  since  been  revived  on  a  narrower  scale,  yet  I  trust 
it  will  not  be  permitted,  either  in  the  West,  or  in  the  East,  to  ac- 
complish its  end. 

It  is  not  difficult.  Sir,  to  account  for  that  aversion  from  religion 
which  is  so  frequently  found  in  men  who  have  left  their  country 
at  an  early  period,  in  pursuit  of  a  fortune.  They  neither  under- 
stood nor  believed  the  gospel  when  at  home  ;  and  on  going  abroad 
took  leave  of  Christian  ordinances,  and  of  all  respect  for  them. 


PAnxI.l  FOR  CHKISIMAN  MISSIONS.  2I7 

They  may  wish,  iiideed,  for  certain  roason?,  to  retain  ihc  name  of 
riiristian>;  but  that  is  all:  they  caniiol  hear  tlie  tiling,  nor  that  any 
about  them  should  he  in  eaiiie^^t  in  ihc  jirofession  of  it.  Hut, 
whatever  measure^  may  be  t.iken  liy  uhmi,  \\  ho  have  becoine  aliens 
from  that  ivhich  is  the  jilory  of  their  country,  1  trust  there  will  be 
found  a  sufficient  number  of  the  rulers  and  inhabitants  of  this  land 
to  counteract  them.  Il'not,  let  us  talk  as  we  may  against  French 
atheism,  we  are  tast  sinking  into  it. 

If,  Sir,  there  be  a  (ioil  liiat  judgclh  ui  the  nirtii,  the  danger  lies 
in  making  Him  our  enemy.  It  is  a  j)iin(i|)le  which  cannot  be  dis- 
puted, however  it  may  be  ilisregarded,  i  hat  wiiatevkr  is  right, 
IS  wise;  am>  wiiats;vii{  is  wnoNc,  is  iooi.ish  anu  dangerous. 
Sir,  the  tomb>:  of  natitms,  successively  buried  in  oblivion,  have 
tliis  truth  inscribed  on  every  one  of  them.  It  was  by  "  forbidding 
Christian  ministers  to  speak  unto  the  Gentiles,  that  they  might  be 
saved,  that  tlio  most  favoured  nation  upon  earlli  filled  up  the  meas- 
ure of  its  sins,  ami  drew  upon  it  the  wrath  of  heaven  to  the  utter- 
most!" 

.\t  a  time,  Sir,  when  many  and  great  nations  are  overthrown; 
nations  which  have  not  possessed  our  privileges,  and  therefore 
have  not  incurred  our  guilt;  when  we  are  engaged  in  the  most  tre- 
mendous struggle  that  this  country  ever  knew,  a  struggle  for  our 
very  existence;  and  when,  on  certain  occasions,  we  profess  to  fast, 
and  to  humble  ourselves  before  Almighty  God;  shall  we  raise  from 
its  slumbers  the  wicked  system  of  persecution  ?  Do  ice  provoke 
the  Lord  to  jealousy  ?     Are  ice  stronger  than  He  ? 

Mr.  Twining  may  be  disgusted  at  the  idea  of  the  Eastern  em- 
pire being  given  us  by  providence,  for  the  very  purpose  of  intro- 
ducing the  gospel  ;  (p.  25.)  but  if  it  be  so,  it  is  no  more  than  God's 
having  formerly  given  it  to  Cyrus,  for  Jacob  his  servants  sake.* 
Men  may  scorn  to  be  subservient  to  their  Maker  ;  but  whether 
they  consent  or  not,  it  will  be  so.  The  conquests  of  Rome  made 
way  for  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  Britain;  and  those  of 
Britain  may  make  way  for  its  general  introduction  in  the  East. 
Should  Britain  be  friendly  to  this  olijocf,  it  may  be  the  lengthening 

'Ua.  xlv.  1 — I. 
Vor.   Ill  ?C 


218  AN  APOLOGY,  .Sit.  [Part  1. 

of  her  tranquillity;  but,  as  an  eloquent  writer*  observes,  "  If  we 
decline  the  illustrious  appointment,  God  may  devolve  on  some  less 
refractory  people,  those  high  destinies  which  might  have  been 
ours.  Who  knoweth  whether  we  are  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such 
a  time  as  this  ?  If  we  altogether  hold  our  peace  at  this  time,  tlien 
may  there  enlargement  and  deliverance  arise  to  them  from  another 
place,  and  we  and  ourfather''s  house  may  he  destroyed.''^ 

I  am, 

Sir, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

ANDREW  FULLER. 

*  Mr.  Wraagham's  Sermon,  On  the  Translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the 
Oriental  Languages,  preached  before  the  University  of  Cambridge,  on  May 
10,  1807.  (p  11.) 


STRICTURES 


PREFACE  TO  A  PAMPHLET, 

ENTITLED 

OBSERVATlOxNS  ON    THE    PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE 
EAST  INDIA  COMPANY." 


This  performance,  though  anonymous,  has  been  generally  as- 
cribed to  Major  Scott  Waking:  and  as  I  understand  that  that 
gentleman  has  since  publicly  avowed  himself  to  be  the  author,  I 
shall  consider  him  as  such  in  the  following  remarks. 

Mr.  Twining's  performance  had  scarcely  any  thing  tangible 
about  it.  It  was  chiefly  made  up  of  quotations,  with  here  and 
there  a  sentence  distinguished  by  italics,  or  capitals  of  different 
sizes,  according,  it  should  seem,  to  the  different  degrees  of  suspi- 
cion and  alarm  which  possessed  the  mind  of  the  author.  But  Ma- 
jor Scott  Waring  attempts  to  reason;  and  as  he  certainly  has  enter- 
ed into  the  subject  zvith  alt  his  heart,  we  may  hope,  from  hence, 
to  ascertain  the  real  strength  of  our  adversaries. 

Having  given  his  preface  a  cursory  review,  I  determined,  before 
I  sat  down  to  answer  it,  to  read  through  his  pamphlet;  and  on 
looking  it  over,  I  found  that  though  the  "Observations"  related 
chiefly  lo  things  beside  my  province,  yet  they  contained  passages 
worthy  of  attention  ;  especially  when  compared  with  others,  and 
with  the  general  design  of  his  performance.  A  few  of  these  I  shall 
take  the  liberty  to  transcribe. 

"For  many  centuries,  we  believe.  Christian  Missionaries  have 
resided  in  India,  with  the  free  consent  of  the  native  princes. 
These  men  were  generally,  if  not  universally,  pure  in  their  morals, 
and  inoffensive  in  their  conduct;  and  many  of  them  highly  respect- 


220  AN  Al'OLOGY  [Part  1 

ed  by  the  princes  uf  ludiii,  who  allowed  them  to  preach  the  gospel, 
and  to  make  as  many  converts  as  they  could  to  the  Christian  reli- 
gion." (p.  9.) 

"Missionaries  can  do  no  mischief  in  India,  it  they  are  treated  as 
formerly;  neither  encouraged,  nor  oppressed;  but  if  men  paid  by 
the  British  government  are  encouraged  to  make  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity, our  empire  will  be  in  danger."  (p.  14.) 

"  The  Missionaries  now  in  India,  or  those  who  may  go  thither 
in  future,  should  be  treated  by  our  government  as  they  formerly 
were  by  the  native  princes.  In  that  case,  the}'  may  be  as  zealous 
as  possible  without  doing  mischief.  Mr.  Buchanan  says  that  the 
Four  Gospels  have  been  translated,  and  liberally  distributed.  Il 
that  was  done  at  the  expense  of  the  Bible  Society  in  England,  or 
of  the  other  religious  societies  in  Europe,  the  measure  was  lauda- 
ble; but,  if  at  the  expense  of  the  Company,  and  from  their  press,  it 
was  most  impolitic,  and  made  use  of,  no  doubt,  by  the  sons  of  Tip- 
poo  Sultaun,  to  excite  the  iSeapoys  to  mutiny.  The  true  line  for 
the  British  government  to  pursue,  is  obvious  ;  let  Missionaries 
make  as  many  converts  as  they  can,  but  give  them  no  support  on 
the  one  hand,  nor  discouragement  on  the  other.  Let  us  copy  the 
example  of  the  native  princes  in  allowing  the  Missionaries  of  this 
day  to  preach  the  gospel  also,  but  there  let  us  stop."  (pp.  22,  23.) 

''  No  jealousy  was  ever  entertained,  either  by  Mahomedan  or 
Hindoo  pi'inces,  because  Missionaiies  were  settled  in  their  coun- 
tries who  now  and  then  converted  one  of  their  subjects  to  Chris- 
tianity. No  jealousy  will  now  be  entertained  of  their  having  simi- 
lar success,  while  the  British  government,  which  stands  in  posses- 
sion of  the  power  formerly'  enjoyed  by  the  native  princes,  is  con- 
tented merely  with  following  their  example."  (p.  25.) 

As  I  have  no  concern  in  any  plan  which  would  be  expensive  to 
government,  or  would  require  their  interference  in  any  way  beyond 
simple  protection  to  the  Missionaries,  and  that  no  longer  than  their 
conduct  is  found  to  be  deserving  of  it,  I  have  no  dispute  with  Ma- 
jor Scott  Waring  on  what  he  has  here  advanced.  If  he  suspect^ 
Mr.  Carey  to  be  paid  by  government,  or  the  translations  in  which 
he  is  engaged  to  be  printed  or  circulated  at  their  expense,  I  can  as- 
sure him  it  is  without  foundation.     The  salary  which  he  receive* 


rAUTl.l  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  lOl 

is  not  as  a  Missionary,  but  merely  as  a  Professor  of  the  Shanscril 
and  Bengalee  languages.  Government  knows  nothing  of  him,  or 
hi^  colleagues,  m  Missionaries,  any  farther  than  when  mentioning 
certain  literary  works,  to  speak  of  those  works  as  undertaken  by 
"  the  Protestant  Missionaries  at  Serampore."  Mr.  Carey's  salary 
13  Ihc  due  reward  of  his  labours,  as  a  literary  man.  It  is  true,  he 
disinterestedly  devotes  all  his  savings  to  the  work  of  spreading  the 
gospel:  but  the  same  may  be  said  of  more  than  one  of  his  col- 
leagues, who  have  no  connexion  with  government,  and  whose  avo- 
cations are  productive  of  little,  if  any  thing,  less  than  his.  And 
whatever  has  been  done  Ijy  the  Missionaries  in  translating  and 
circulating  the  scriptures,  has  been  done  at  the  expense  of  socie- 
ties and  individual.  Whether  any  translations  have  been  printed 
at  the  Company's  press,  I  cannot  speak  with  certainty.  I  think  it 
is  highly  probable  they  have  not  ;  of  this,  however,  I  am  certain, 
that  those  which  are  enumerated  by  Mr.  Carey,  [in  page  212  of 
this  volume,]  were  printed  at  Serampore.  When  it  was  determin- 
ed to  translate  (be  scriptures  into  all  the  Eastern  languages,  gov- 
crMiutMit  permitted  them  to  advertise  in  their  Gazette  for  subscrip- 
tions to  the  ^^ ork ;  but  to  argue  from  hence  that  they  had  any  pe- 
cuniary concern  in  the  undertaking,  is  absurd  ;  for  if  so,  what  need 
was  there  to  advertise  for  private  subscriptions  ? 

Upon  the  whole,  it  follows,  that  what  has  been  done  is,  in  Major 
Scott  Waring's  opinion,  ''  laudable,"  and  was  not  made  use  of  to 
excite  the  Seapoys  to  mutiny.  And  here  I  might  take  leave  of 
this  gentleman,  were  it  not  for  his  preface,  with  the  satisl'nction  of 
our  labours  having  obtained  his  approbation  and  applause.  For, 
as  to  what  he  says  of  the  hopelessness  of  attempting  to  convert 
the  Hindoos,  that  is  to  ourselves.  We  derive  hope  from  a  book 
with  which  he  may  be  but  little  acquainted  ;  and  so  long  as  we  do 
"  no  mischief,"  why  should  we  be  interrupted  ? 

But  when  I  look  into  the  preface,  I  find  a  new  and  a  contra- 
dictory publication.  Whether  the  '*  observations"  were  written 
at  so  distant  a  period  that  he  had  forgotten  them,  or  whether  the 
late  "  intelligence  from  Madras"  proved  so  alarming  to  him  as  to 
produce  an    entire  change   in   his    principles  ;  whatever  was  the 


222  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

cause,  there  is  certainly  a  most  nolent  opposition  between  the  one 
and  the  other. 

Before  we  proceed  to  examine  this  extraordinary  preface,  which 
is  nearly  as  large  as  the  book  itself,  it  may  be  proper  to  remark, 
that  Major  Scott  Waring  knows  nothing  of  the  effects  of  Christian 
Missions  in  India  of  late  years,  but  from  the  report  of  their  ad- 
versaries. The  reader  will  recollect  what  was  quoted  from  Mr. 
Carey's  letter  of  Feb.  13,1807,  [in  page  205  of  this  volume,] 
and  the  intimation  there  given,  of  a  number  of  persons  who  were 
at  that  time  preparing  to  embark  for  Europe,  with  a  view  to  spread 
the  alarm  at  home.  These  are  the  men  from  whom  the  author  de- 
rives his  intelligence.  "  Various  private  accounts,''''  says  he, 
'■'■from  men  of  sense,  observation,  and  character,  mention,"  &c. 
(p.  1.)  And  again,  "■  I  am  assured,  by  a  gentleman  lately  returned 
from  India,  that,"  &c.  (p.  xlii.).  These  or  some  other  gentlemen 
like-minded,  have  been  endeavouring  by  private  letters,  during 
the  whole  of  1807,  to  excite  suspicions  against  us.  But  when  told 
of  these  things,  our  answer  has  been,  '  Let  us  not  be  judged  by 
private  letters  :  let  our  adversaries  come  forward  and  accuse  the 
Missionaries  ;  or,  at  least,  give  proof  of  their  labours  having  been 
injurious.'* 

1  know  not  who  these  gentlemen  are,  and  therefore  can  have  no 
personal  disrespect  to  any  of  them  :  but,  whoever  they  be,  1  have 
no  scruple  in  saying,  that  their  reports,  as  given  in  the  perform- 
ance before  me,  are  utterly  unworthy  of  credit.  Of  this  the  rea- 
der will  be  convinced,  I  presume,  in  the  course  of  these  remarks. 

Major  Scott  Waring,  as  if  conscious  ihdii  private  reports  were  of 
no  use,  unless  to  fill  up  the  deficiencies  of  what  is  public  and  au- 
thentic, begins  with  ihe  Proclamation  from  the  Madras  Govern- 
ment, on  Dec.  3,  1806  ;  that  is  about  six  months  after  the  mutiny  at 
Vellore.  This  proclamation  states,  that,  in  some  late  instances,  an 
extraordinary  degree  of  agitation  had  prevailed  among  several 
corps  of  the  native  army  of  that  coast — that  on  inquiry  into  the 
cause,  it  appeared  that  many  persons  of  evil  intention  had  endea- 

*  Private  intelligence  is  proper  on  some  occasions  ;  but  in  cases  of  accusa- 
tion, no  man  should  be  able  to  take  away  another's  cliaracter  without  riskinjf 
his  own. 


I'ART  I.J  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  oj 

voured,  for  malicious  purposes,  to  impress  upon  the  native  troops 
a  belict'  th;it  it  was  the  wish  of  the  Hritisli  govt-rnniont  to  convert 
them  by  forcihh;  means,  to  Chri'^tianily — that  such  maUcious  re- 
ports had  been  observed  with  concern  to  be  believed  by  many  of 
the  native  troops — and  tliat  they  were  utterly  without  foundation, 
(pp.  i— v.) 

Such  is  "  the  alarmins;  intelligence  lately  received  from  Mad- 
ras." From  hence,  Major  Scott  Waring;  takes  occasion  "humbly 
to  submit  to  the  consideration  of  his  Majesty's  Ministers,  the  East 
India  Company  and  the  Legislature,  a  plan  for  restoring  that  con- 
tulence  which  the  natives  formerly  reposed  in  the  justice  and  pol- 
icy of  the  Britir^h  government,  as  to  the  security  of  that  religion, 
laws,  and  local  customs."    And  what  is  it  ?  Nothing  less  than  ''  the 

I.MMKDIATK  RECALL  OF  EVERY  ENGLISH  MISSIONARY,  AND  A  PRO- 
HiniTION  TO  ALL  PERSONS  DEPENDANT  ON  THE  CoMPANY  FROM 
GIVING  ASSISTANCE  TO  THE  TRANSLATION    OR  CIRCULATION  OF  OUR 

HOLY  scRiPTiRES."  (p.  xvii.)  Thesc  the  author  thinks  "  the 
most,  and,  indeed,  the  only  efficacious,  measures."  That  they 
would  be  etlicacious,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  such  would  be 
the  application  of  the  guillotine  for  the  cure  of  the  head-ache  ; 
but  whether  it  be  just  or  wise,  is  another  question. 

If  I  had  written  the  "  observations,"  and  had  been  afterwards 
convinced  that  the  principles  they  cqi^^ained  wore  erroneous,  I 
think  1  should  not  have  sent  out  a  new  edition  of  them  :  or,  if 
justice  had  failed  to  influence  me,  a  regard  to  consistency  would 
have  prevented  my  publi>hing  them  and  their  refutation  in  the 
same  pami)hlet,  hut  to  publish  that  refutation  in  the  form  of  a 
prfface,  is  beyond  every  thing.  To  preface  his  work  by  con- 
tradicting its  leading  principles,  is  advertising  his  reader 
that  he  has  sold  him  a  bad  conmiodity.  Should  His  Majesty's 
Ministers,  the  East  India  Company,  or  the  Legislature,  attend  to 
thi*  gentleman's  performance,  in  what  part  are  they  to  regard  him  ? 
In  the  preface  they  are  advised  "  immediately  to  recall  every 
English  .Missionary  ;"  but,  as  they  read  on,  they  are  told,  that 
*'  the  true  line  for  the  British  government  to  pursue  is  obvious  ; 
let  Missionaries  be  as  zealous  as  they  may,  and  make  as  many  con- 
verts as  tliey  can,  jirovidod  they  be  neither  encouraged  on  the  one 
hand,  nor  discouraged  on  the  other,  they  can  do  no  mischief" 


224  AN  APOLOGY  JPartI. 

What  then  are  they  lo  do,  unless  it  be  to  disregard  the   whole  as 
nugatory 

And  what  have  these  English  Missionaries  done,  that  they  are 
to  be  immediately  recalled;  and  these  holy  scriptures,  that^they  are 
not  to  be  translated  or  circulated  by  any  one  dependant  on  the 
Company  ?  Nothing.  As  to  the  former,  it  is  not  pretended  that 
they  had  any  hand  in  the  tragical  event  at  Vellore.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  are  expressly  acquitted  of  it.  (p.  xi.)  And  as  to  the 
latter,  no  accusation  has  yet  been  brought  against  them.  But  evil- 
minded  men,  it  seems,  have  taken  occasion,  from  the  increase  of 
the  one,  and  the  gratuitous  circulation  of  the  other,  to  misrepresen-t 
the  designs  of  government;  and,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to  pro- 
ceed to  this  extremity.  The  author,  it  must  be  acknowledged, 
has  hit  upon  a  happy  expedient  for  suppressing  the  scriptures  :  for 
if  he  can  once  get  the  men  who  are  employed  in  translating  and 
circulating  them  recalled,  there  is  no  danger  of  their  doing  any 
further  mischief.  So  long  as  they  are  locked  up  in  an  unknown 
language,  all  Asia  may  continue  from  generation  to  generation  un- 
der the  dominion  of  imposture. 

But  why  must  the  Missionaries  be  recalled  immediately  ?  It  was 
said  by  a  wise  heathen,  Ye  ought  to  do  nothing  rashly.  Permit  us, 
at  least,  to  ask  a  question  or  two  before  we  are  condemned. 

In  the  iirst  place  :  When  were  these  misrepresentations  made? 
Is  there  any  proof  of  their  having  existed  before  the  mutiny,  so  as 
to  have  had  any  influence  in  producing  it  ?  None  at  all.  But  we 
are  told,  that  "It  is  impossible,  impolitic  as  the  measure  was,  that 
the  mere  change  in  the  dress  of  the  Seapoys,  could  have  produced 
a  general  belief,  that  the  British  government  was  resolved  to  com- 
pel them  to  embrace  Christianity."  (p.  1.)  I  answer,  there  is  no 
proof  that  such  Zi  general  belief  existed;  no  not  six  months  after- 
wards, when  the  proclamation  was  issued  :  for  it  was  then  alleged 
to  have  extended  only  to  "  several  corps  of  the  native  army  on  the 
coast  ;"  and  at  the  time  of  the  mutiny  there  is  no  proof  of  any  other 
belief  than  what  arose  from  the  impositions.  With  what  colour  of 
evidence  can  this  writer  pretend  that  "  the  great  increase  of  Eng- 
lish Missionaries  of  late  years,  and  the  gratuitous  distribution  of 
of  our  sacred  scriptures  throughout  the  whole  country,''''  were  con- 


I'AnT  r,]  yOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  225 

NECTED  with  the  impositions  in  (lre«s,  in  the  representations  made 
to  the  Se.ipoys,  when  in  the  same  sentence  he  acknowledges  those 
impositions  to  have  affected  their  religion  ?  Allowing  it  to  be  what 
he  c;ills  it,  "  «  rcHgioun  mutintj,"  vft  the  irn|)ositions  in  dress  were 
competent  to  produce  it.  Nad  he  not  been  determined  to  bring  in 
llicsc  Missionaries,  and  these  holy  scriptures,  at  any  rate,  he 
uoMJd  have  conrlnded,  th;it  tlio  other  causes  were  "  sufficient  to 
create  the  alarm,  "  without  any  thing  else  being  connected  witli 
th<!m.  Hut  "  various /)riy«/e  accounts,  from  men  of  sense,  obser 
vation.  and  character,  mcntiijn,  that  the  great  increase  of  Missiona- 
ries, the  profiiseand  gratuitous  circulation  of  the  scriptures,  a</rfe^/ 
to  the  chanj;p  of  dress,  were  represented  as  proofs  of  our  resolu- 
tion ultimately  to  roini)cl  them  to  become  Christians."  (p.  1.)  Ah 
that  is  it !  IMajor  Scott  Waring  laiows  of  nothing  antecedent  to  the 
mutiny;  the  proclamation  knows  of  nothing;  but  ''private  ac- 
counts from  tiwn  of  sense,  obsenuttion  and  cfiaractcr,^^  make  known 
every  thing.  And  what  have  they  to  say  on  this  subject  ?  They 
(ell  ofthe^r<'«/  increase  of  English  Missionaries  of  late  years.  It 
is  possible,  they  may  be  about  lifleeii  or  sixteen  :  but  nine  of  them, 
by  Major  Scott  Waring's  own  reckoning,  are  m  Bengal,  where  no 
alarm  worth  mentioning  has  existed,  except  in  the  minds  of  Euro- 
peans. They  also  tell  of"  the  gratuitous  circulation  of  the  scrip- 
tures, throughout  the  whole  cnuntryy  (pp.  x.  1.)  The  truth  is,  I 
believe,  that  the  gratuitous  circulation  ol  the  scriptures,  has  been 
tiilhcrto  contined  to  Bengal.  Thus  much,  at  present,  for  the  pri- 
vate accounts  of  these  vien  of  sense,  observation,  and  character  ; 
but  for  whose  information,  we  could  not  have  known  of  any  mis- 
representations being  made  to  tlw.'  Seapoys,  jL»rtor  to  the  V'ellore 
mutiny. 

We  ask.  secondly,  Who  were  the  (Uilhora  of  theae  misrepresenta- 
tions? The  proclamation  does  not  inform  us;  and  probably  gov- 
ernment did  not  know,  or  they  would  have  punished  the  offen- 
ders. But  whether  it  be  from  ihti  private  accounts  of  these  men  of 
sense,  observation,  and  character,  or  from  some  other  source  of  in- 
formation. Major  Scott  Waring  makes  it  out  that  they  were  "  dis- 
affected natives,  of  the  Carnatic  and  the  Mysore."  (p.  x.)  This, 
if  applied  to  what  took  plire  subsequent  to   the  mutiny,  may  have 

\()i.   Iff.  '29 


226  ^^  APOLOGY  [Part.  I. 

some  truth  in  it,  or  it  may  not.  The  evil-minded  persons  referred 
to  in  the  pi-oclamalion,  who  appear  to  have  availed  themselves  of 
the  mutiny  to  increase  the  alarm,  mii^ht  be  disatfected  natives,  or 
they  might  be  Europeans,  who,  from  aversion  to  Christianity,  and 
a  desire  to  get  the  scriptures  suppressed  and  the  Missionaries  re- 
called, suggested  such  things  to  the  Seapoys  as  might  accomplish 
their  end.  It  is  remarkable,  that  in  the  very  passage  in  which 
this  writer  speaks  in  so  positive  a  strain  of"  the  disaffected  men  of 
the  Cnrnatic  anfl  the  Mysore"  having  taking  advantage  of  our  folly, 
and  excited  the  troops  to  mutiny;  he  exonerates  the  sons  of  Tip- 
poo  Sultaun,  whom  he  had  before,  with  equal  positivity,  condem- 
ned. "  We  know,''''  he  had  said  in  his  Observations,  "  that  the  mu- 
tiny was  excited  by  the  sons  of  Tippoo  Sultaun,  whose  emissaries 
insinuated  that  the  change  which  we  wished  to  adopt  in  the  dress 
of  the  Seapoys,  was  only  a  preparatory  step  towards  the  accom- 
plishment of  our  great  object,  which  was  to  compel  them  to  em- 
brace Christianity,"  (p.  8.)  But  in  preface,  (p.  x.)  he  says, 
*'  From  later  information  I  have  reason  to  believe,  that  the  sons  of 
Tippoo  Sultaun  are  innocent  of  the  charge  preferred  against  them 
but  the  disaffected  men  of  the  Carnatic  and  the  Mysore  did  take 
advantage  of  our  folly  ;  and  that  they  excited  the  troops  to  a  reli- 
gious mutiny  is  beyond  a  doubt."  If  this  gentleman's  hnotchdge 
be  thus  unfounded,  though  so  very  minute  and  particular  that  he 
would  almost  seem  to  have  been  an  ear-witness,  what  is  to  be 
thought  of  his  conjectures  ?  and  what  to  make  of  this  last  account 
more  than  conjecture,  I  cannot  tell.  His  eagerness  to  charge  the 
disaffected  natives  looks  as  if  some  other  people  were  suspected. 
Let  us  hear  the  other  side. 

Mr.  Carey  says,  ''  India  swarms  with  Deists  ;  and  Deists  are 
in  m;j[^  opinion,  the  most  intolerant  of  mankind.  Their  great  desire 
is  to  exterminate  true  religion  from  the  earth.  /  consider  the 
alarms  zvhich  have  been  spread  through  India  as  the  fabrications  of 
these  men.  The  concurrence  of  two  or  three  circumstances,  in 
point  of  time  ;  namely,  the  massacre  at  Vellore,  the  rebellious 
disposition  of  the  inhabitants  in  some  part  of  Mysore,  and  the  pub- 
lic advertisements  for  subscriptions  to  the  oriental  translations, 


Part  I.J  KUR  CHRISTIAN  .M1?<I0NS.  227 

have  fiiniiilu'd  tln'iii  with  occa^^iou  to  rt'|Mi'Scnt  tlu-  mtrotluctiori 
of  Chrjsliaiiily  among  the  natives  as  ilariijoious." 

Dr.  Kerr's  Report,  dated  Madras,  Jul}'  23,  I  SO7,  (uolve  nionllis 
after  the  mutiny,  continni;  Mr.  Carey's  si. item. -nt.  He  clearly 
shows  that,  iu  Lis  opinion,  the  evil-minded  persons,  who  industri- 
ously circulated  reports  nearly  allied  to  the  above,  were  not  na- 
tives, but  Europeans,  hostile  to  religion  aud  its  interests.  '■  Va- 
rious reports,"  says  he,  "  have  been  indu.-liiously  circulated  by 
evil-minded  persons,  hostile  to  religion  and  its  interests,  that  the 
natives  woidd  be  alarmt-d  were  Missionaries  allowed  to  come  out 
to  India  ;  but  I  leel  myself  authorized,  by  a  near  acquaintance  with 
many  of  the  Protestant  Missionaries  now  in  India,  and  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  respect  which  is  entertained  for  them  by  all  de- 
scriptions of  the  natives,  to  repeal  what  1  have  formerly  stated  to 
government,  that  these  men  arc,  and  always  have  been,  more  be- 
loved by  the  natives  than  any  other  class  of  Europeans  ;  and  it  is 
to  be  accounted  for  on  the  most  rational  grounds — that  is,  they 
learn  their  language  intimately  ;  they  associate  with  them  in  a 
peaceable,  humble  manner,  and  do  them  every  act  of  kindness  in 
their  power  ;  rthile,  at  the  same  time,  the  example  of  their  Chris- 
tian lives  produces  the  very  highest  respect  among  heathens,  un- 
accustomed to  behold  such  excellence  amongst  each  other.  The 
lives  of  such  men  in  India  have  always  been  a  blessing  to  the  coun- 
try, and  I  heartily  wish  that  all  such  characters  may  be  encoura- 
ged to  come  amongst  us." 

The  above  statements  from  Mr.  Carey,  and  Dr.  Kerr,  1  may 
venture  to  place  against  the  anonymous  accounts  of  men  of  sense, 
observation,  and  character ;  and  if  they  be  true,  they  not  only  fur- 
nish an  exposition  to  the  labours  of  Messrs.  Twining,  Scott  Waring, 
and  Co.  but  fully  account  for  those  apprehensions  which,  it  is 
said,  "existed  as  late  as  March,  1807,  three  months  after  the 
date  of  the  proclamation  ;  and  which  induced  the  Britisli  officers 
attached  to  the  native  corps,  constantly  to  sleep  wili  loaded  pistols 
under  their  pillows."  (p.  xi.)  An  event  so  tragical  as  that  at  Vel- 
lore,  would  itself,  indeed,  suggest  the  necessity  of  such  a  precau- 
tion, and  that  for  a  considerable  time  after  it  ;  and  still  more  so, 
when  the  ffame  was  fanned  by  evil-minded  persons.     Yes,  reader, 


228  AN  APOLOGV  [Part  I. 

if  these  statements  be  true,  it  follows,  that  the  enemies  of  Chris- 
tianity, after  having  themselves  excited  these  alarms,  are  now  ac- 
tually attempting  to  transfer  the  responsibility  for  their  consequen- 
ces to  the  Missionaries. 

We  ask,  lastly,  Let  these  misrepresentations  have  been  fabricated 
when,  and  by  whom  they  might.  Is  it  just  or  wise,  to  recall  those 
persons  who  are  acknowledged  to  have  had  no  concern  in  them,  or  to 
suppress  the  circidation  of  the  holy  scriptures  on  that  account. 

A  great  outrage  has  certainly  been  committed.  What  was  the 
cause  ?  According  to  Major  Scott  Waring,  the  Madras  government 
acted  absurdly  ;  first,  in  changing  so  suddenly  a  native  to  an  Eng- 
lish administration,  and  then  in  imposing  such  alterations  in  the 
dress  of  the  Seapoys  as  affected  their  religion.  And  when,  in  ad- 
dition to  this,  they  were  told,  by  evil-minded  persons,  of  the  great 
increase  of  Missionaries,  and  the  gratuitous  circulation  of  the 
scriptures  throughout  the  country,  they  believed  government  in- 
tended to  compel  them  to  become  Christians  ;  and  though  the  thing 
was  not  true,  yet  it  was  by  no  means  irrational  for  them  to  believe 
it.  (pp.  ix,  X.)  Supposing  this  account  to  be  correct,  where  is 
\he  justice  of  punishing  men  for  their  numbers  being  magnified,  and 
their  labours  misrepresented  by  others  ?  If  an  atonement  be  ne- 
cessary, why  select  them  as  victims  ?  If,  indeed,  the  evil-minded 
incendiaries,  who  misrepresented  their  designs,  and  those  of  gov- 
ernment, could  be  detected,  it  might  answer  a  good  end  to  punish 
them  ;  but  if  this  cannot  be  accomplished,  let  not  the  innocent 
suffer. 

Major  Scott  Waring  seems,  indeed,  to  give  up  ihe  justice  of  the 
measure  ;  but  yet  contends  for  it  as  of  "  absolute  necessity,  seeing 
the  proclamation  had  not  lulled  the  suspicions  of  the  people." 
(p.  xi.)  Such  are  the  Machiavelian  politics  of  this  gentleman. 
Could  we  suppose  him  to  be  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  New 
Testament,  we  might  suspect  that  he  had  taken  op  this  opinion 
from  Caiphas,  the  Jewish  high-priest,  wh6  advised  the  crucifix- 
ion of  our  Lord,  on  the  principle  of  its  being  "  expedient  that  one 
man  should  die  for  the  people,  and  that  the  whole  nation  perish 
not."* 

*  John  xi.  49,  50. 


Part  1. 1  FOIl  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  cj^g 

"■  It  is  npressary  to  convince  the  natives,"  says  this  writer 
'  not  only  that  we  never  did  entertain  the  wihl  idea  of  compeUing 
them  to  emhrace  Christianity,  hut  that  we  have  not  a  r^'jsA  to  con- 
vert them."  (p.  vi.)  It  cannot  be  necessary  to  convince  the  natives 
that  Major  Scott  Warin<:,  and  all  who  are  like-minded  with  him, 
have  not  a  Ti-ish  to  convert  tlicni;  and  as  to  others,  who  may  enter- 
tain the  idea  of  converting  Iheimvilliont  comiiuhion,  it  deserves  to 
be  considered  whether  the  recalline;  of  them  woidd  not  have  a 
contrary  efTect  to  that  which  is  |)reloiided.  The  recall  of  the 
Missionaries,  and  the  virtual  suppression  of  the  scriptures,  would 
furnish  the  native*  with  im  injportant  subject  of  reflerlion.  1( 
would  be  a  tacit  ackiiowledi^tnciit  on  the  part  of  government,  that. 
till  instructed  by  the  V'ellore  mutiny,  they  had  entertained  "  the 
wild  idea  of  comi)clliii^  them  to  eml)iace  Christianity  ;"  but  that 
nuii-  they  have  bcrome  sober,  and  relinquished  it !  \\  helher  such 
a  measure  wouM  bo  attributed  to  respect  or  to  fear,  and  what  ef- 
fects it  would  produce  on  the  army  and  the  country,  let  common 
sense  determine. 

As  the  main  design  of  this  preface  was  to  excite  "  His  Majesty's 
Ministers,  the  Kast  India  Company,  and  the  Legislature,"  against 
the  Missionaries  and  their  labours,  the  author  having  improved 
the  Vellore  mutiny  as  far  as  he  is  able,  proceeds  to  denounce 
these  men,  and  all  who  have  been  in  any  way  abettors  of  their 
flangerous  designs.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  who 
have  aided  them  as  translators  ;  Mr.  Brown  and  Dr.  Buchanan, 
who  have  encouraged  them  ;  and  Dr.  Kerr,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
same  cause  with  them,  all  come  in  for  a  share  of  his  censures. 

"  Dr.  Buchanan  conceives,"  says  he,  "  that  it  is  by  no  means 
-ubmitted  tu  our  judgment,  or  to  our  notions  of  policy,  whether 
we  shall  embrace  the  means  of  imparting  Christian  knowledge  to 
our  subjects,  or  not."  (p.  xxv.)  The  Major  probably  thinks  this 
a  very  wild  opinion  :  yet  it  only  amounts  to  this,  that  God  is 
greater  than  man,  and  that  what  respects  the  promotion  of  his 
kingdom  in  the  earth,  must  not  be  rendered  subservient  to  world- 
ly interests.  But  this,  he  tells  us,  "  was  precisely  the  doctrine 
of  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  when  they  discovered  the  new 
world  ;  and  they  extirpa«<'d  millions  of  imforlunate  men,  in  prop- 


230  A \  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

agatinj^  their  doctrines  by  the  sword."  If  there  be  any  force  in 
this  remark  (which  seems  fo  be  a  favourite  one)  it  is  because  the 
persecuting  conduct  of  these  nations  was  the  legitimate  and  neces- 
sary consequence  of  the  doctrine  in  question.  But  why  might 
they  not  have  considered  themselves  as  under  indispensable 
obligation  to  impart  the  means  of  Christian  knowledge,  without 
being  obliged  to  follow  it  with  persecution  ?  Does  it  follow,  be- 
cause they  vv^re  not  obliged  to  extend  their  religious  principles 
by  the  sword,' t!'.at  we  are  not  obliged  to  extend  ours  without 
the  sword  ? 

Many  things  are  said  on  the  impolicy  of  Dr.  Buchanan's  visit 
to  the  Syrian  Christians,  and  that  of  Dr.  Kerr  to  the  Malabar 
coast.  It  seems  to  have  given  this  writer  serious  offence,  that  the 
Governor  of  Madras  should  have  given  the  epithet  "  important" 
to  an  inquiry  relating  to  Christianity,  (p.  xxix.)  He  calls  it  "  the 
most  trifling  of  all  possible  subjects  connected  with  the  welfare  of 
our  oriental  empire,  (p.  xxxiii.)  He  speaks  of  this  empire  as 
being  "  conquered  by  British  valour."  (p.  xl.)  God  and  religion, 
therefore,  it  should  seem,  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  No, 
let  the  Missionaries  go  to  Africa,  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  or  to 
the  wilds  of  America  ;  but  let  them  not  come  hither  !  0  thou  seer, 
go,Jlee  thee  away  into  the  land  of  Judah,  and  there  eat  bread,  and 
•prophesy  there  :  but  prophesy  not  again  any  more  at  Bethel  :  for 
it  is  the  king'^s  chapel,  and  it  is  the  king's  court.*  Yet  this  gentle- 
man would  be  thought,  after  all>  to  be  a  Christian,  and  ''  trusts 
it  will  not  be  imputed  to  indifference  for  the  eternal  welfare  of  the 
people  of  India,"  that  he  advises  what  be  does  ! 

But  as  Dr.  Buchanan,  and  Dr.  Kerr,  if  they  judge  it  necessary, 
are  able  to  vindicate  themselves,  I  shall  confine  my  replies  to 
those  particulars  which  more  immediately  concern  me.  Many 
things  are  said  against  "  the  English,  and  especially  the  Baptist 
Missionaries."  Such,  indeed  is  the  quantity  of  misrepresenta- 
tion contaiDed  in  these  few  pages,  that  to  correct  it,  it  is  often  ne- 
cessary to  contradict  every  sentence.  On  this  account,  the  read- 
er must   frequently  dispense  with  the  ordinary  forms  of  quoting 

*  Amos  vii.  12,  13. 


Part  I.J  lOR  CWIIISTIAN  MISSIONS.  231 

and  answering  :  and  consider  those  para-jntphs  which  are  marked 
with  reversed  commas,  as  the  words  of  Major  Srott  Waring,  and 
(hose  which  are  not  as  the  answers  to  them.  I  do  not  accuse  my 
opponent  of  wilful  errors  ;  but  if  he  be  cloar  of  them  his  in- 
formation must  be  extremely  incorrect. 

"  We  have  now  a  great  number  of  Sectarian  Missionaries  spread 
Dver  every  part  of  India."  (p.  xii.)  Those  whom  Major  Scott 
Waring  is  pleased  to  honour  with  this  appellation,  may  amount  to 
tifteenor  sixteen,  the  greater  part  of  whom  reside  at  Serampore, 
near  Calcutta,  directly  under  the  eye  of  the  supremo  government. 
•'  Mr.  Carey,  the  head  of  the  Baptist  Mission  in  Bengal,  and  his 
assistant  Missionaries  have  been  employed,  since  the  year  1804, 
in  translating  the  scriptures  into  the  various  languages  of  India.'' 
It  may  hare  been  from  that  period  that  the  work  of  translating 
has  been  cooducted  on  so  extensive  a  scale  ;  but  for  many  years 
before  that  lime  Mr.  Carey  was  engaged  in  the  same  undertaking. 
An  edition  of  the  New  'J'cstament  in  Bengalee,  was  printed  at  Ser- 
ampore in  1801,  a  copy  of  which  is  now  in  his  Majesty's  library. 
"  Mr.  Carey  is  employed  in  translating  the  scriptures  into  the 
Chinese  language."  (p.  xv.)  The  Chinese  translation  is  not  the 
work  of  Mr.  Carey,  but  of  Mr.  Johannes  Lassar,  a  learned  Ar- 
minian  Christian,  with  other  assistants.  "  As  the  different  parts 
are  translated,  they  are  printed,  as  I  understand  at  the  Companifs 
preits,  attached  to  the  College  at  Calcutta."  If  this  were  true, 
while  no  man  is  forced  to  read  them,  no  danger  could  arise  from 
It  :  but  there  is  very  little,  if  any,  truth  in  it.  The  translations  of 
the  Missionaries  have  been  printed  at  Serampore.  "  Specimens  of 
these  translations  have  been  sent  home  by  the  provost."  It 
seems,  then,  that  they  were  not  engaged  in  any  thing  of  which  they 
were  ashamed.  "  The  natives  of  India,  cannot  be  ignorant  of 
these  novel  and  extraordinary  proceedings  :" — Especially  while 
their  most  learned  I'imdits  assist  in  the  work.  *'  They  can  form 
no  other  conclusion  than  this,  that  if  we  cannot  persuade,  we  shall 
compel  them  to  embrace  Christianity."  So  long  as  no  compulsion 
is  used  towards  them,  they  have  more  sense  than  to  draw  such 
conclusions,  or  even' to  believe  them  when  drawn  for  them  bv 
others,  whom  they  consider  as  men  of  no  relif^wn. 


232  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

In  1781,  when  it  was  the  fixed  principle  of  the  Legislature,  that 
wo.  ought  never  to  interfere  with  the  religion,  laws,  or  native  cus- 
toms of  the  people  of  India,  a  proposition  for  free-schools  and 
Christian  Missionaries  could  not  have  been  listened  to."  (p.  xiii.) 
There  never  was  a  period,  since  the  British  have  had  footing  in 
India,  in  which  either  free-schools,  or  Christian  Missionaries 
were  considered  as  an  interference  with  the  religious  opinions  of 
the  natives.  If  they  were,  why  were  Schwartz  and  his  cotempo- 
raries  tolerated  ?  The  truth  is,  the  term  "  interference"  has 
been  adopted  in  this  controversy  to  answer  an  end,  and  the  idea 
which  our  adversaries  endeavour  to  attach  to  it  is  altogether  novel. 

*' The  late  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  a  sound  and  orthodox  divine, 
and  one  of  the  main  pillars  of  our  good  old  Church  of  England, 
deprecated  all  such  interference."  He  did  so  ;  and  Major  Scott 
Waring,  with  his  men  of  sense,  observation  and  character,  has, 
doubtless,  in  his  Lordship's  decease,  lost  an  able  advocate.  "  The 
command  of  our  Saviour  to  his  apostles,  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all 
nations,  did  not,  as  he  conceived,  apply  to  us — and  his  opinion  in 
1781,  was  universal,"  Major  Scott  Waring  may  know  that  this 
was  the  opinion  of  the  late  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph  ;  but  he  knows 
very  little  indeed  of  what  were  the  opinions  of  the  Christian 
world.  "  Since  that  period  many  very  worthy  and  good  men  are 
of  opinion,  that,  as  Christians,  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  to  spread 
the  Christian  religion  as  widely  as  we  possibly  can  ;  and  highly, 
indeed,  do  I  applaud  their  zeal,  when  it  is  exercised  in  countries 
where  we  have  no  political  povver."  Whatever  charges  we  may 
exhibit  against  Major  Scott  Waring,  we  cannot  accuse  him  of  not 
speaking  out. 

"  I  do  not  exactly  know  what  are  Baptist  Missionaries.  I  be- 
lieve they  may  be  classed  with  Calvinistic  Methodists,  to  distin- 
guish them  from  the  Arminian  Methodists."  (p.  xv.)  We  can  ex- 
cuse the  author's  ignorance  on  this  subject  :  but  when  he  tells  us, 
in  the  same  page,  that  there  are  "  spread  over  India,  Baptist  Mis- 
sionaries, Arminian  Methodists,  and  United  Brethren  Missionaries," 
&c.  &.C.  we  see  ignorance  combined  with  something  worse.  The 
Arminian  Methodists  have  no  mission  in  India,  and  never  had. 
The  United  Brethren  have  formerly  had  one  at  Serampore  ;  but,  I 


Part  I.]  KOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  033 

believe  at  present,  tliev  h;ive  none.  Hefore  this  gentleman  writes 
.igain,  he  would  do  well  to  consider  the  justness  of  a  remark  made 
hy  himself,  and  to  apply  it  to  other  subjects,  as  well  as  politics" 
"  In  discussing  political  questions,  a  certain  degree  of  acquaintance 
with  the  subject  is  supposed  to  be  requisite."  (p.  38.) 

••  I  nm  assured  by  gentlemen  lately  returned  from  India,  that 
notwithstanding  the  very  great  increase  of  Missionaries  of  late  years 
the  case  is  not  changed  since  my  time  ;  that  they  have  not  made 
a  single  Mahomedan  convert,  and  that  the  few  Hindoos  who  have 
been  converted,  were  men  of  the  most  despicable  character,  who 
had  lost  their  casts,  and  took  up  a  new  religion  because  they  were 
excommunicated."  (p.  xlii.)  I  presume  \.\\eie.  gentlemen  lately 
returned  from  India,  are  the  same  persons  whom  this  writer  else- 
where denominates  men  of  sense,  observation,  and  character. 
The  reader  will  now  be  able  to  judge  of  the  value  of  these  boast- 
ed authorities.  Evkrv  particular  fn  this  paragraph  is  false. 
There  has  been  no  snch  great  increase  of  Missionaries  of  late 
years,  as  is  pretended.  There  are  Mahometans  as  well  as  Hin- 
doos, who  have  been  baptised.  Out  of  more  than  eighty  natives, 
who  had  been  baptised,  before  May  26,  1806,  only  three  had  pre- 
viously lost  cast,  eight  were  brahmnns,  and  seven  Mahometans. 
The  whole  number  which  had  been  excluded  for  immoral  conduct, 
might  amount  to  eight  or  nine.  As  nearly  as  I  can  make  it  out, 
ilie  above  is  a  true  statement.  The  reader  may  see  a  list  of  the 
baptised  down  to  Nov.  1804,  in  No.  XV.  Periodical  Accounts. 
(Pref.  p.  xiv.)  I  can  assure  him,  that  the  Missionaries  might  have 
had  more  proselytes  than  they  have,  if  they  would  have  received 
such  chaiact(r<  as  [Uc^e  men  report  them  to  have  received  ;  but 
llicir  object  i>  to  mnki.'  converts  to  Chriut,  and  not  proselytes  to 
themselves.  Indeed,  so  little  are  the  a-sertions  of  this  writer  to  be 
regarded,  with  respect  to  the  character  of  the  native  converts,  that 
it  would  be  the  easiest  thing  imaginable  directly  to  confront  them 
by  the  testimony  of  competent  witnesses.  Mr.  J.  Fernandez,  a 
gentleman  who  came  froni  India,  early  in  1806,  and  who  is  now 
with  Dr.  Kyland  at  Bristol,  make>  the  following  declaration — 
"  There  are  several  Mahomedan  converts  among  the  Missionaries, 
and  some  very    respectable  Hindoos  who    have  embraced  Chris- 

VoL.  If!.  30 


234  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

tianity.  To  the  best  of  my  recollection,  there  are  but  two  at  Ser- 
ampore  who  had  previously  lost  cast :  these  had  been  for  a  long 
time  reckoned  Portuguese,  and  were  not  in  worse  circumstances 
than  other  people.  Some  of  the  highest  class  of  brahmans  have, 
to  my  knowledge,  embraced  the  gospel,  whom  the  natives  call 
Mookoorja,  Chattirja,  Barridja,"  &c.  As  to  what  is  said  of  their 
non-success,  either  by  Major  Scott  Warring,  or  the  gentlemen  late- 
ly return'^dfrom  India,  I  appeal  to  the  common  sense  of  mankind, 
whether,  if  they  themselves  believed  what  they  say,  they  would 
raise  such  an  opposition  as  they  do.  They  lell  us  the  natives  are 
alarmed;  but  the  alarm  is  with  themselve?.  It  is  somewhat  re^ 
markable,  that  Infidelity,  which  has  of  late  years  threatened  to 
swallow  up  Christianity,  should  in  so  short  a  time  be  alarmed  for 
itself,  and  for  its  Pagan  and  Mahometan  allies.  A  small  detach- 
ment from  the  Christian  army,  clad  in  the  armour  of  God,  and 
operating  as  in  a  way  of  diversion,  has  caused  their  host  to  trem- 
ble, and  to  cry  out  to  the  civil  powers  to  assist  them  by  recalling 
these  men  I 

This  gentleman  is  sufficiently  aware  of  the  prejudice  which 
exists  against  Protestant  Dissenters,  and  knows  how  to  avail  himself 
of  it.  He  can  condescend  to  call  the  Missionaries  sectaries  and 
schismatics,  (pp.  xliii — xlv.)  And  would  he  have  liked  them  better 
if  they  had  been  Churchmen  ?  No,  for  he  speaks  of  certain  gen- 
tlemen, as  "  classed  under  that  description  of  our  clergy  who  are 
termed  evangelical,"  and  of  their  being  all  for  "  converting  the 
Hindoos  to  Christianity."  (p.  xv.)  Clergymen  of  this  descripiion 
are,  in  his  account,  as  bad  as  sectaries  and  schismatics.  The 
truth  is,  it  is  as  Christians  that  we  incur  his  displeasure;  only  he 
judges  it  prudent  to  attack  us  under  other  names. 

But  these  Missionaries  are  also  represented  as  "  illiterate,  igno- 
rant, and  as  enthusiastic  as  the  wildest  devotees  among  the  Hin- 
doos." (p.  xliv.)  The  following  extract  from  the  speech  of  Sir 
George  Barlow,  published  in  a  Calcutta  Gazette  Extraordinary, 
on  Saturday,  March  8,  1806,  will  prove  that  all  men  are  not  of 
Major  Scott  Waring's  opinion.  "  I  have  received  with  great  satis- 
faction, the  information,  that,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Asiatic 
Society,  the  society  of  Protestant  Missionaries  at  the  Danish  settle- 


I'ART  [.]  lOR  Cimi-SIIAN  MI^^IO.NS.  035 

raent  of  Serampore,  aided  and  supeiiiilondcd  \>y  Ihc  nbditics  of 
Mr.  Carev,  Professor  of  the  Sh;iijscrit  and  beiij^alee  languages,  has 
undertaken  the  translation  of  sonic  of  the  nio<t  ancient  and  authen- 
tic works  of  literature  in  the  former  of  these  languages." 

Of  the  Missionaries  sent  out  by  the  London  .Society,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve there  is  an  individual  who  is  either  "  ignorant  or  illiterate;''^ 
though,  doubtless,  an  in  all  other  bodies  of  men,  there  are  diversi- 
ties of  talent  and  learning.  And  with  respect  to  enthusiasm,  after 
what  has  been  quotetl  iVotn  Major  .'^colt  Waring,  no  Christian  need 
be  offended  at  his  calling  liini  an  enthusi.ist. 

This  gentleman  has  furnished  himself  with  various  reports  from 
the  Missionary  Societies.  Among  others,  he  has  met  with  a  Ser- 
mon, preached  in  May  last,  before  The  Socicti/  of  Missions  io  -fifri- 
ra,  AND  THE  East,  of  which  Society  Admiral  Lord  Gambler  is  a 
Governor.  It  seems  then,  that  India  is  uol  altogether  "thrown 
into  the  hands  of  schismatics."  But  at  the  end  of  this  sermon  is  an 
account  of  a  brahman,  as  given  by  Mr.  John  Thomas,  in  the  Bap- 
tist Periodical  Accotmts.  (Vol.  I.  pp.  22 — 26.)  Let  any  one  that 
fears  God  read  that  account,  and  compare  it  with  these  remarks 
upon  it.  "I  had  the  curiosity,"  says  he,  "  to  inquire  after  Mr. 
Thomas,  and  his  convert,  and  I  heard  that  they  both  died  raving 
mad  in  Bengal."  (p.  xlvi.)  We  may  suppose  this  information,  as 
well  as  the  preceding,  was  received  from  the  gentlemen  lately  re- 
turned from  India.  It  is  worthy  of  them.  Parbotee,  however,  is 
neither  dead  nor  insane.  And  Mr.  Thomas,  though  his  mind  was 
deranged  for  a  month  or  two,  at  one  period  of  his  life,  yet  died  sane 
and  happy.  Mr.  John  Kernandez,  the  gentleman  before  referred 
to,  says,  "Mr.  Thomas  was  deranged  for  a  short  time;  and  after 
his  recovery,  lived  with  my  father  at  Dinageporc,  for  a  considera- 
ble time  before  his  dissolution,  when  he  died  very  happy.  As  for 
Parbotee,  I  am  almost  certain  that  he  is  still  alive.  He  was  so, 
however,  when  1  loft  India,  in  18OC.     I  saw  him  myself" 

It  is  remarkalile  that  this  gentleman  is  for  tolerating  the  I'loman 
Catholic  Missionaries,  and  all  others,  indeed,  except  "  those  xiho 
possess  this  nexv  mania  for  i:onversion,  so  unaccountably  taken  up." 
(p.  xlix.)  We  perfectly  comprehend  him;  and,  I  hope,  shall  profit 
by  the  hint.     It  signifies  but  little  with  him  how  many  Missiona- 


23ti  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  J. 

ries  there  are,  nor  by  what  names  they  are  called,  so  that  they 
are  not  in  earnest  for  the  salvation  of  men.  VVe  will  follow  his  ex- 
ample:— while  we  adhere  to  that  denomination  which  appears  to 
us  to  approach  nearest  to  the  scriptures,  we  will  recognize  the 
Christian,  in  whatever  communion  we  may  find  him.  We  will  re- 
joice in  the  good  which  is  done  by  the  Society  for  Promoting  Chris- 
tian  Knowledge,  even  though  they  are  offended  with  their  Mission- 
aries for  nothing,  that  we  can  conceive,  but  their  exercising  the 
common  duties  of  hospitality  to  ours.* 

Major  Scott  Waring,  among  other  Missionary  Reports,  has  pro- 
cured No.  XVI.  of  the  Baptist  Periodical  Accounts,  and  proposes 
giving  us  some  "  extracts"  from  it.  Before  he  does  this,  however, 
he  presents  us  with  a  few  particulars,  by  way  of  introduction;  but 
all  as  the  reader  would  suppose,  gathered  from  this  said  No.  XVI. 
First,  he  informs  us  that  "  Nine  English  Missionaries  are  employ- 
ed by  this  Society  in  Bengal  alone.''''  (p.  liii.)  What  a  number, 
then,  must  they  employ,  the  reader  would  suppose,  in  all  the  other 
provinces  of  Itidia!  It  happens,  however,  that  in  no  other  prov- 
ince of  Hindostan  have  they  ever  employed  a  single  Missionary. 
Whether  the  gentlemen  lately  returned  from  India  informed  the 
author  of  the  great  numbers  of  these  Missionaries  scattered  all  over 
the  country,  or  however  he  came  by  the  idea,  his  mind  is  certain- 
ly full  of  it,  and  it  has  led  him  into  a  ctirious  train  of  reasoning. 
"  The  jealousy  and  the  alarm,"  says  he,  "  which  has  pervaded 
the  whole  of  the  Carnatic  and  Mysore,  has  been  but  partially  felt 
in  Bengal,  because  [there]  the  efforts  of  the  English  Missionaries 
have  hitherto  not  extended  beyond  a  few  inconsiderable  villages, 
and  the  populous  city  of  Dacca."  (p.  li.)  They  have  been  more 
extensive,  then,  it  should  seem,  in  the  Carnatic  and  Mysore  !  The 
truth  is,  I   believe  that  not  an  English  Missionary  has  entered 

*  See  the  last  Report  of  the  Committee  of  this  Society,  No.  IV.  p.  165. 
Theyacknowledge  the  docuiaents  they  possess  to  be  quite  insufficient  to  ena- 
ble them  to  forma  judgment  of  the  true  ground  of  certain  disorders;  but 
"  Missionaries  from  an  Anabaptist  Society,  and  from  that  called  the  London 
Missionary  Society,"  have  called  upon  them,  and,  it  seems,  received  some 
countenance  from  them ;  and  therefore  this  Committee  thinks  proper  to 
throw  out  a  suspicion,  that  they  may  hare  been  the  occasion  of  these  evils ! 


Fart  1.1  KOIl  CUIUSTIAX  MISSJONS.  237 

KiTHKR  OF  THESE  COUNTRIES.  Nearly  the  whole  of  what  has  been 
hitherto  done,  is  confined  to  Bengal  ;  for  tiiougii  the  London  Sori- 
rty  lias  five  or  six  Missionaries  in  other  provinces,  some  of  which 
may  lie  near  to  the  Carnalic,  yet  the  time  is  so  short,  that  they 
have  scarcely  been  able,  at  present,  to  acquire  the  lan2;uages.  But 
in  Bengal  the  Baptist  Mission  has  existed  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  the  labours  of  the  Missionaries  have  been  much  more  extensive 
than  our  author  would  seem,  in  this  instance  to  apprehend:  yet 
there  these  "alarms  have  been  but  partially  felt  1"  Who  does 
nut   jjcrceive  the   consequence  ?      Thesk  ai.aiims   auk   not  thk 

KJ-KFCT   OK    MlSSIONAnV    EXERTIONS. 

Major  Scott  Waring  goes  on  to  inform  his  readers  of  a  numbei 
of  particulars,  in  a  manner  as  though  he  had  collected  them  from 
our  own  Report.  Among  other  things,  he  speaks  of  Mr.  Carey  as 
"  having  apartm(Mi(s  in  the  (College  for  the  receptinn  of  his  brother 
Missiotiarics.  ichrn  they  visit  Calcutta,'^  and  repeats  the  story  ol 
"  Mr.  Thomas,  and  his  convert  Parbotee,  dying  mad  in  Bengal." 
(p.  liii.)  Did  he  learn  these  particulars  from  No.  XVI,  or  from 
the  gentlemen  lately  returned  from  India.''  It  were  singular  in- 
oeed,  if  a  professor  in  a  college  had  no  apartments  in  it,  and  were 
not  at  liberty  to  receive  any  person  who  may  call  upon  him. 

"  In  the  Company's  list  of  college  officers  he  is  styled  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Carey;  but  the  Bible  Society  have  given  him  the  dignified 
title  of  Reverend."  (p.  liii.)  Ho  might  be  called  Doctor  Carey, 
or  Professor  Carey.  Whether  cither  of  these  titles  would  be  less 
displeasing  to  this  gentleman.  1  cannot  tell.  If  not,  whenever  he 
has  occasion  to  correspond  with  him,  he  may  lay  aside  all  titles, 
and  call  him,  as  I  do,  Mr.  Carey.  1  can  answer  for  it  that  it  will 
give  him  no  otTence. 

As  to  the  attempts  to  prove  iVomthe  Missionaries'  own  accounts^ 
that  they  have  "  caused  considerable  uneasiness  among  the  people 
of  the  villages,"'  Major  Scott  Waring  may  make  what  he  can  of 
them.  If  he  had  given  extracts,  as  he  proposed,  and  referred  to 
the  pages,  it  would  have  appeared  that  no  such  sensation  was  ever 
produced  -jt:ith  respect  to  government.  It  was  confined,  as  Mr. 
Carey  says,  '*  to  abusive  langirage  from  a  lew  loose  persons;"  or, 
at  most,  to  ill  treatment  of  the  native  cooverls,  and  which,  in  even 


238  '^-'^'  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

instance,  they  have  borne  with  Christian  meekness  and  patience. 
No  such  thing  as  a  disturbance,  endangering  the  peace  of  society, 
has  occurred.  The  "alarm*'  which  the  appearance  of  a  Euro- 
pean is  allowed  to  excite,  (p.  Iviii.)  respects  him  not  as  a  Mission- 
ary, but  as  a  Eurm  can;  and  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  this, 
as  much  as  possi! !«;,  ihat  the  labours  of  the  native  converis  are  en- 
couraged. This  writer  seems  to  think  it  sufficient  to  discredit  all 
Missionary  attempts,  that  he  can  prove,  from  our  own  accounts, 
that  we  have  strong  prejudices  to  encounter,  and  judge  it  expedi- 
ent, instead  of  violently  attacking  them,  to  proceed  in  as  still  and 
silent  a  way  as  possible. 

A  very  heavy  charge  is  preferred  against  one  of  the  Missiona- 
ries, as  having  perverted  the  words  of  our  Lord:  Think  you  that  I 
am  come  to  send  peace  on  the  earth/'  I  tell  you  nay.  Yet  nothing  is 
alleged  to  prove  it  a'perversion,  except  that  the  gospel  inculcates 
the  mild  doctrine  of  peace  on  earth,  and  good  ■will  to  men.  (p.  lix.) 
The  direct  influence  of  the  gospel  is,  no  doubt,  what  he  says  of  it; 
but  what  if,  owing  to  the  depravity  of  men,  it  should,  in  many  in- 
stances, occasion  the  most  bitter  enmity  and  opposition  ?  Is  the 
gospel  accountable  for  this  ?  Christian  compassion  has  been 
known  to  excite  the  foulest  resentment  in  some  men.  What  then  ? 
Is  Christian  compassion  ever  the  worse  ? 

The  remarks  on  the  journey  to  Dacca,  (pp.  liv.  Iv.)  show  what 
Major  Scott  Waring  wishes  to  prove;  but  that  is  all.  If  what  he 
calls  "  the  proper  line  for  the  British  government  to  pursue," 
had  been  pursued  on  that  occasion,  the  young  men  had  not  been 
interrupted.  I  say  the  you7ig  men;  for  it  was  not  Mr.  Carey,  but 
Mr.  William  Carey,  his  second  son,  who  accompanied  Mr.  Moore. 
"  They  distinguished,"  we  are  told,  "between  the  brahmans,  and 
the  people  at  large."  Yes,  they  had  reason  to  do  so;  for  the  peo- 
pie  were  eager  to  receive  the  tracts,  but  some  of  the  brahmans 
were  offended;  and  this  is  common  on  almost  all  other  occasions. 
"Should  we  be  mad  enough  to  make  the  same  distinction,  our  de- 
struction is  inevitable."  One  would  think,  then,  the  destruction 
of  the  Missionaries  themselves  would  not  only  be  inevitable,  but 
immediate.  As  the  brahmans  are  displeased  with  none  but  Ihem 
and  the  native  converts,  \Uhey  escape,  there  is  no  cause  for  others 


paiiti.]  kor  christian  missions.  239 

to  fear.  'I'be  (rulli  is,  the  common  people  are  not  80  under  the 
influence  of  tlie  brahmans  as  to  be  displeased  with  hearing  them 
puliiicly  confuted.  Dn  the  contrary,  they  will  often  express  their 
pleasure  at  it;  and  when  the  latter  remain  silent,  will  call  out, 
■  Why  do  you  not  answer  him  ?'  But  "  Lord  Clive  and  Mr.  Ve- 
relst,  in  the  year  17'i6,  were  not  ?o  mad  as  to  advise  a  poor  crea- 
ture who  had  lost  cast  to  abandon  his  ridiculous  and  idolatrous  pre- 
judices, and  to  embrace  the  true  reliu;ion."  (p.  Ivi.)  If  I  were  to 
say,  they  were  not  so  wise  and  so  >j;ood  as  to  do  so,  I  should  be  a? 
near  the  truth;  .^nd  my  saying  would  bear  reflection  in  a  dying 
hour,  quite  as  much  as  that  of  Major  Scott  Waring. 

''We  mav  conceive  the  narrow  bigotry  by  which  these  men  are 
artualed,  by  the  conduct  of  Mr.  [Willi.im]  Carey,  and  Mr.  Moore, 
to  some  native  Christian  Catholics,  whom  they  met  with  in  a  vil- 
lage, when  they  were  driven  from  Dacca  by  the  Magistrate  and 
Collector  ?"  .And  what  was  it  ?  W^hy,  "  to  these  poor  Catholics, 
thev  pointed  out  the  errort  of  Popery,  and  warned  them  of  the  dan- 
ger of  unrshifipiiig  and  trusting  to  idols.^^  (p.  Ix.)  And  this  is 
bigotry !     Such  bigots  they  certainly  were  and  are. 

To  prove  the  absolute  inutility  of  the  dispersion  of  one  edition 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  twenty  thousand  religious  tracts,  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Carey  is  cited,  which  speaksof  their  being  "  but  few 
months  in  which  .vo;/(e  were  not  baptised;  of  three  natives  having 
joined  them  the  last  month,  and  txco  the  month  before;  but  of  their 
being  under  the  necessity  of  excluding  several  for  evil  conduct.'''' 
(p.  Ix.)  If  Major  Scott  Waring  be  not  more  successful  in  his  op- 
position than  he  is  in  his  proof,  Christianity  may  still  go  on  and 
prosper  in  India.  1  suspect  it  was  irom  a  conscious  want  of  this 
important  article,  that  he  was  obliged  to  fill  up  his  pages  with  such 
terms  as  "  bigots,"  ''  madmen,"  "  mischievous  madmen,"  &:c. 
iic.  There  is  nothing  so  provoking  to  a  man  who  is  desirous  of 
proving  a  point,  as  the  want  of  evidence. 

In  the  course  of  several  years,  they  have  maile  about  eighty 
converts,  all  from  the  lowest  of  the  people,  most  of  them  beggars 
by  profession,  and  others  who  have  lost  their  casts.  The  whole 
of  them  were  rescued  from  poverty,  and  procured  a  comfortable 
subsistance  by  their  conversion."  (p.  xli. )     That  is,  reader,  thus 


240  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

say  the  gentlemen  lately  returnedfrom  India,  (p.  xlii.)  I  need  not 
repeat  the  refutation  of  these  falsehoods.  Before  they  were  said 
all  to  have  previously  lost  cast :  but  now  it  seems  to  be  only  some 
of  them.  Judge,  reader,  do  these  men  believe  what  they  say  ? 
But  "  the  whole  of  them  were  rescued  from  poverty,  and  pro- 
cured a  comfortable  subsistence  by  their  conversion,"  A  con- 
siderable number  of  (he  Christian  natives  live  many  miles  from 
Serampore,  and  subsist  in  the  same  manner  as  they  did  before 
their  baptism,  and  without  any  aid  from  the  Missionaries.  The 
subsistence  of  others,  who  reside  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ser- 
ampore, is  from  the  same  employment  as  it  was  before  they  be- 
came Christians  ;  and  those  who  receive  pay  from  the  Mission- 
aries are  such  as  are  employed  by  them.  Mr.  John  Fernandez 
says,  "  I  have  been  present  almost  every  time  when  the  converts 
have  professed  their  faith  before  the  brethren,  and  have  repeat- 
edly heard  the  Missionaries  tell  them,  that  unless  they  worked 
with  their  own  hands,  they  would  receive  no  help  from  them. 
Inquirers  were  always  kept  for  some  time  on  probation.  Some  of 
them  were  Byraggees,  a  sort  of  religious  beggars  :  but  they  are 
no  longer  so  when  they  become  Christians.  No  one  is  supported 
in  idleness.  If  any  are  bettered  in  their  circumstances,  it  is  by 
being  taught  to  be  industrious  and  frugal.  But  many  of  those 
whom  our  author  calls  "  beggars  by  profession,''  lived  in  a  much 
greater  fulness  by  that  way  of  life,  than  they  do  now  by  labour  ; 
and  it  is  not  very  likely  that  they  should  have  relinquished  the 
one  and  chosen  the  other,  from  interested  motives.  What  is  it 
that  kindles  the  wrath  of  this  man  ?  If  a  word  be  spoken  against 
the  character  of  these  people  while  they  continue  heathens,  he  is 
all  indignant  :  but  if  they  become  Christians,  the  foulest  reproach- 
es are  heaped  upon  them  .  It  is  because  these  beggars  are  be- 
come industrious,  and  cease  to  live  upon  the  superstitious  credu- 
lity of  their  neighbours,  that  he  is  so  offended  ?  Does  he  think 
the  British  Government  would  be  overturned,  if  all  the  rest  of 
the  beggars  were  to  follow  their  example  ? 

But  •■'  one  of  the  Missionaries  writes  to  England,  that  a  hun- 
dred rupees  a  month,  would  support  ten  native  converts  with 
their  families,  and  a  still  greater  number  of  single  brethren  ;  which, 


parti.j  for  christian  missions.  241 

he  says,  is  undoubtedly  (rue,  because  the  wages  of  our  common 
servants  are  but  three,  four,  and  five  rupees  a  month."  (p.  Ixi, 
Ixii.)  Why  does  not  our  author  refer  to  the  pages  from  whence 
lie  tiike^  his  extracts  ?  As  this  passage  stands  in  his  pamphlet,  it 
conveys  the  idea  that  every  native  convert  vntli  a  family ,  costs  the 
Society  ten  rupees  a  month  :  but  if  the  reader  look  into  No.  XVI. 
p.  171,  from  whence  the  extract  is  taken,  he  will  find,  that  it  is  ol 
native /^rear/jers  that  Mr.  Marshman  writes;  who  observes,  that 
"  while  they  are  thus  employed  in  disseminating  the  good  seed. 
they  cannot  be  at  home  supporting  their  families."  It  is  one 
thing,  «urcly,  to  pay  a  man  ten  rupees  for  the  support  of 
his  family,  and  hi-?  o«n  travelling  expenses  ;  and  another,  to 
give  him  the  same  -^nm  a«  a  common  labourer  at  home. 

Major  Scott  VVariiij:  may  give  as  many  extracts  from  our  pub 
lication  .is  he  please?  ;  biit  he  should  not  pervert  the  meaning. 
He  may  think  us  wild  and  foolish  to  lay  out  money  in  such  under- 
takings ;  he  may  call  it  *'  ridiculous  to  talk  of  the  perishing 
millions  of  India  ;  (p.  Ixii.)  he  may  reckon  compassion  to  a  great 
city,  wholly  given  to  idolatry,  a  proof  of  the  want  of  common 
tense  ;  (p.  Ixv.)  but  let  him  do  us  the  justice  of  allowing  us  to 
think  otherwise.  We  are  not  surprised  at  his  having  no  compas- 
sion for  perishing  idolaters,  nor  indeed,  at  any  thing  else,  unless 
It  be  his  pretending,  after  all,  to  be  a  Christian  \  but  let  him  not 
represent  us  as  employed  in  bribing  bafl  men  to  become  hypo 
crites. 

"  Some  of  these  converts  have  been  expelled  for  gross  immo 
rality."  True,  and  what  then  ?  "  Such  I  am  confident  would  be 
the  fate  of  the  remainder,  were  not  the  Missionaries  afraid  of  be- 
ing laughed  at."  But  why  should  he  imagine  this  ?  Docs  he 
think  the  Hindoos  all  bad  men  ;  or  do  they  become  such  when 
they  embrace  Christianity  ?  And  why  should  the  missionaries  be 
suppced  to  retain  bad  men  in  their  society,  for  fear  of  being 
laughed  at!  Had  they  feared  this,  they  had  never  engaged  in  the 
work.  Did  they  fear  this,  they  would  not  exclude  so  many  as 
they  do  ;  or,  at  least,  would  not  report  it  in  their  letter?.  I  may 
add,  it  is  not  long  since  they  had  a  fair  opportunity  to  have  entire- 

Voi..   111.  31 


242  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  I. 

ly  desisted  from  their  work  ;  and  that  in  a  way  that  would  not  have 
inciiri-ed  the  laughter,  but  possibly  the  commendation  of  these 
men.  They  might  also  from  that  time  have  gone  on  to  ac- 
cumulate fortunes,  instead  of  sacrificing  every  thing  in  a  cause 
which  they  knew,  it  seems  at  the  same  time  to  be  hopeless. 
Surely  these  Missionaries  must  be  worse  than  madmen  ;  and 
the  government  at  Calcutta,  and  the  Asiatic  Society,  cannot 
be  much  better,  to  think  of  employing  them  in  translating  works 
of  literature. 

Once  more,  "The  new  orders  of  Missionaries  are  the  most  ig- 
norant and  the  most  bigoted  of  men.     Their  compositions  are,  in 
fact,  nothing  but  puritanical  rant,  of  the  most  vulgar  kind  ;  worse 
than  that  so  much  in  fashion,  in  Great  Britain,  during  the  days  of 
Oliver  Cromwell."     VVe   hope  the   author  will  furnish  us  with  a 
specimen.     Yes,  here  it  is  :  "  When  Mr.  [W.]  Carey,  and  Mr. 
Moore  were  at  Dacca,  they  write  on  the  Lord's-day  as  follows  ; 
PFhat  an  aioful  sight  have  we  witnessed  this  day  !  A  large  and  pop- 
ulous city  wholly  given  to  idolatry^  and  not  an  individual  to  warn 
them  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.     As  soon  as  we  rose  in  the 
morning,  our  attention  was  unavoidably  excited  by  scenes  the  most 
absurd,  disgusting,  and  degrading  to  human  nature!^''    Judge, 
Christian  reader,  what  a  state  of  mind  that  man  must  possess,  who 
can  call  this  language  vulgar  rant,  and  adduce  it   as  a  proof  of 
ignorance  and  bigotry!  "  Could  men  possessing  common  sense," 
he  adds,  "  have  written  such  nonsense  as  this  is,  unless  blinded  by 
enthusiasm?     Had  they  discovered,  that  a  single  Englishman  was 
a  convert  to  the  Hindoo,  or  the  Mahometan  religion,  they  would 
have  been  justified   in  giving  their  sentiments  to  him,  as  to  his 
apostacy  from  the  true,  to  a  false  and  idolatrous  religion  ;  but  to 
pour  out  such  unmeaning  and  useless  abuse  on  an  immense  pop- 
ulation,  which   merely    observed    those  forms   and    ceremonies, 
which  had  been  used  throughout  Hindostan  for  above  two  thou- 
sand years,   is  folly  and  arrogance  in  the  extreme."  (p.  Ixv.) 
I  wonder  whether  this  writer  ever  read  a  book,  called  the  Bible, 
or  heard  of  any  of  its  languages,  excepting  a  few  passages  held 
up.  perchance,  to  ridicule,  in  some  history  of  the  times  of  Oliver 


Part  I.]  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  243 

Cromwell  !  I  presume  the  re;nJer  lias  had  enough  ;  ajid  as  all 
that  follows  is  little  else  than  a  repetition  of  what  has  already 
been  answered,  interlardeil  with  the  usual  ijuantit)'  of  low  ahuse, 
1  shall  pass  it  over  unnoticed.  1  have  seldom  se«'(i  a  perform- 
ance, by  a  writer  calling  himseli  a  Chrisiiun  so  full  of  bare-faced 
Infidelity.  May  God  give  him  repentnnre  t-j  tl»e  ackiiowledf^ing 
of  the  truth  ! 


AN 


APOLOGY 


FOR   THE   LATU 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  TO  INDIA; 


PART    THE  SECOND. 


CONTAINING 


REMARKS  ON  MAJOR  SCOTT  WAKING'S  LETTER  TO 
THE   REV.  MR.  OWEN, 


VINDICATION  OF  THE  HINDOOS, 

*  BY  A  BENGAL  OFFICER.' 


We  certify  the  king  that  if  this  (iity  be  buildeJ,  and  the  walls  thereof  set 
(ip,  by  this  means  thou  shall  have  no  portion  on  this  side  of  the  river. 

THE   ADVERSaRIKS    OE    JUDAH. 

-Vow  Tatnai,  Governor  beyond  the  river,  Shethar-boznai,  and  your  com- 
panions the  Apharsachites,  be  ye  far  from  thence  :  let  the  work  of  this  house 
of  God  aIon«. 

DAJtivs. 


INTRODUCTION. 


JL  HAT  Apologies  for  Christianity  should  have  been  necessary 
in  heathen  countries,  is  eassily  conceived  :  but  an  attempt  of  the 
kind  in  this  country,  and  at  this  period  of  time,  seems  itself 
almost  to  require  an  apology.  Who  would  have  thought  that 
the  sons  of  Protestant  Britain  would  so  far  degenerate  as  to  be- 
come the  advocates  of  Paganism  ;  or  though  that  were  the  case 
with  a  few  individuals,  yet  who  could  have  imagined  that  a 
number  of  men  would  be  found  who  would  have  either  the  pow- 
er or  the  re^^olution  publicly  to  oppose  the  propagation  of  Chris- 
lianity  ? 

We  may  be  told  that  the  greater  part  of  our  opponents  pro- 
fess to  be  Christians,  and  that  their  opposition  is  merely  on 
political  considerations.  1  might  meet  them  upon  this  ground, 
and  might  deny  that  the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  any  country, 
or  in  any  circumstances,  can  be  unfriendly  to  its  political  wel- 
f.ire.  Hut  it  would  be  compromising  the  honour  of  the  gospel 
to  rest  its  defence  on  this  principle.  If  Christianity  be  true, 
it  is  of  such  importance  that  no  political  considerations  are  suf- 
ficient to  weigh  against  it;  nor  ought  they,  for  a  moment,  to  be 
placed  in  competition  with  it.  If  Christianity  be  true,  it  is 
of  God  ;  and  if  it  be  of  God,  to  oppose  its  progress  on  the 
grounds  of  political  expediency,  is  the  same  thing  as  to  tell  our 
Maker  that  we  will  not  have  him  to  reign  over  us,  unless  his 
•government  be  subservient  to  our  temporal  interests. 

Should  we  be  reminded  that  we  are  fallible  men,  and  ought  not 
to  identify  our  undertakings  with  Christianity,  nor  to  reckon 
every  opposition  to  us  as  an  opposition  to  Christ  :  this  we 
readily  admit.  It  we  be  opposed  in  relation  to  any  other  object 
than  that  of  propagating  the  gospel,  or  on  account  of  any  thing 
faulty  in  us   in  the  pursuit  of  thnt  olijrrt,  such  opposition  is  not 


248  INTRODUCTION. 

directed  against  Christianity,  and  we  have  no  desire,  in  such 
cases,  to  identify  our  undertakings  with  it.  Let  it  only  be  fairly 
proved,  that  the  Missionaries  are  intemperate  and  dangerous 
men,  and  we  will  admit  the  propriety  of  their  being  recalled. 
But  if  no  such  proof  be  given,  if  the  reports  circulated  against 
them  be  unfounded,  if  the  alarms  which  have  been  spread  in 
India  be  the  mere  fabrications  of  evil-minded  Europeans,  and 
if  they  themselves  be  men  who  work  the  work  of  God,  an  op- 
position to  them  may  be  found  to  be  an  opposition  to  Christ. 

Let  our  adversaries,  instead  of  declaiming  against  us,  join 
issue  with  us  on  this  point.  Let  them  prove  the  Missionaries 
to  be  intemperate  and  dangerous  men,  and  their  cause  is  gained. 
We  have  only  one  petition  to  present  to  our  judges  ;  which  is, 
that  such  effects  as  naturally  arise  from  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
among  those  who  do  not  believe  it,  which  always  have  arisen,  even 
from  the  first  preaching  of  the  apostles  down  to  our  own  times,  and 
■which  terminate  only  on  ourselves,  may  not  he  admitted  in  evidence 
against  us.  Our  adversaries  allege,  that,  according  to  our  own 
accounts,  the  Missionaries  occasionally  excite  uneasiness,  and  that 
the  native  Christians  sometimes  draw  upon  themselves  abusive 
treatment.  We  do  not  deny  that  in  a  few  instances  this  has  been 
the  case  ;  but  we  say  this  effect  is  no  more  than  what  Christianity 
has  always  produced,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  when  addressed 
to  unbelievers  ;  and  that  so  long  as  this  uneasiness  and  abuse  are 
merely  directed  against  the  parties,  and  are  no  more  injurious  to 
the  British  government,  than  the  preaching  of  Paul  and  Barnabas 
was  to  that  of  Rome,  we  ought  not,  on  this  account,  to  be  cen- 
sured. And  if  a  few  things  of  this  kind  be  thrown  aside  as  irrele- 
vant, we  have  no  apprehension  of  a  single  charge  being  substan- 
tiated against  us. 


REMARK:;? 


MAJOR  SCOTT  WARING'S  LETTER 


REV.  J>1R,  OiVEJS. 


J.  HERE  is  a  sympathy  between  kindred  principles  which  is 
often  unperccivcd  by  the  party  who  favours  them,  but  which  may 
be  expected  to  betray  itself  in  speaking  or  writing  upon  the  sub- 
ject. How  is  it  that  our  opponents  are  so  anxious  for  the  preser- 
vation of  Paganism  and  Mahometanism  ?  They  certainly  have  no 
intf-ntion  of  becoming  the  disciples  of  cither,  nor  to  convey  any 
such  idea  to  the  public  :  but  when  these  systems  are  in  danger, 
they  have  a  feeling  for  them  which  thr-y  cannot  conceal.  How  is 
it  that  Major  Scott  Waring  should  so  readily  tind  mottos  for  his 
pamphlets  in  Hints  to  the  Public  and  the  Legislature,  on  the  Na- 
ture and  Effect  of  Evangelical  Preaching'?  He  professes  to  be  no 
sectary,  but  a  true  orthodox  Churchman,  believing  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  'J'rtnity  ;  nay  more,  considering  the  belief  of  that  dortrine 
as  the  otdy  thing  essential  to  Christianity,  (p.  107.)  Yet  the 
author  of  these  "  Hints,"  if  report  be  true,  while  he  calls  himself 
*  a  Barrister,"  is,  in  reality,  a  Sociriinn  dissenter:  but,  being  so 
exactly  of  his  mind  with  respect  to  evangelical  religion,  his  want- 
mg  what  he  accounts  the  only  essential  of  Christianity,  is  a  matter 
of  small  accouri*. 

Vol..   Ill  32 


250  A\  APOLOGY  [Part  If. 

Finally  :  How  is  it  that  the  cause  of  our  opponents  should  be 
favoured  in  most  of  the  Socinian  publications,  and  that  they  should 
be  so  happily  united  in  their  wishes  for  government  not  to  tolerate 
evangelical  religion  ?  One  submits  "  A  Plan,  to  his  Majesty's 
Ministers,  the  East  India  Company,  and  the  Legislature,"  propos- 
ing to  "  recall  every  English  Missionary;"  another  suggests  "  Hints 
to  the  Public  and  the  Legislature,  on  the  Nature  and  Effect  of  Evan- 
gelical Preaching."  The  language  of  both  is,  '  We  know  not 
what  to  do  with  these  evangelical  men.  and  therefore  humbly  re- 
quest GOVERNMENT  to  take  them  in  hand  !'  Yet  these  are  the 
men  who  would  be  thought  the  friends,  and  almost  the  only  friends 
of  reason  and  toleration  ! 

If  the  Major  and  his  new  ally  have  been  accused  of  dealing  too 
much  in  reason,  we  answer  with  Dr.  Owen,  They  have  been  un- 
justly treated  ;  as  much  so  as  poor  St.  Hierome,  when  beaten  b)' 
an  angel  for  preaching  in  a  Ciceronean  style. 

So  much  for  the  motto.  As  to  the  Letter  itself,  it  contains  lit- 
tle more  than  a  repetition  of  things  which  have  no  foundation  in 
truth,  and  which,  I  trust,  have  been  already  answered.  The  Ma- 
jor having  been  so  ably  repulsed  in  his  first  object  of  attack,  The 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  may  be  expected  to  direct  his 
force  somewhat  more  pointedly  against  the  Missionaries.  We 
have  his  whole  strength,  however,  iu  his  former  Preface.  No 
new  facts  are  adduced,  nor  new  arguments  from  the  old  ones : 
almost  all  is  repetition.  Thus  he  repeats  the  base  calumnies,  of 
our  bribing  beggars  to  become  Christians  ;  and  of  our  sending  out 
thousands  a  year  to  support  them  ;  of  our  not  having  made 
one  good  convert;  of  the  converts  having  lost  cast  before  they 
were  baptised,  &c.  (pp.  32.  87.)  And  thus,  seven  times  over, 
he  has  repeated  the  words  of  Mr.  Marshman,  on  "an  alarm 
being  excited  in  a  bigoted  city  by  the  appearance  of  an  European 
Missionary,"  which,  after  all,  respects  him  not  as  a  Missionary, 
but  merely  as  a  European.  The  scope  of  Mr.  Marshman's  argu- 
ment proves  this  :  for  he  is  recommending  native  Missionaries, 
who,  in  conversing  with  their  own   countrymen,  are  listened  to 


Part  II.J  KOR  CHRISTIAN  Ml^^lONif.  'J5l 

willi  altention,  niid  excite  none  of  that  tear  anJ  re^orvc  winch  are 
{>ioduceiJ  b^  the  appeaiiince  ofa  foreii;ner.* 

It  the  rei'iluig  comluct  of  the  inhabitants  ofa  cLitain  village,  to 
wards  the  Missionaries  or  native  converts,  (who  bore  all  without 
resistance,)  proves  the  fault  to  have  been  with  them,  it  will  prove 
the  same  of  other  Missionaries  whom  our  author  professes  to  res- 
pect, and  of  other  native  converts.      If  he   will  look  into  the  He- 
port  of  The  Society  for  promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  for  1804, 
he  will  see  an  account   *'  an   extraordinary  conversion  of  several 
thousands,  and  of  an  extraordinary  and  unexpected  ^ersfcw^'ow  ot 
the  converts  from  their  heathen  neighbours,  and  particularly  from 
some  men  in  office  under  the  Collector. ^^  (p.  145.)     Moreover,  it 
will  prove  that  the  apostle  Paul  and  our  Saviour  were  accountable 
for  the  aneasiness  which  their  preaching  excited  among  the  Jews, 
and  for  the   persecutions   which   they  met   with  on  account  of  it. 
We  may  be  told,  indeed  that  we  ought  not  to   compare  ourselves 
with  Christ  and  his  apostles  ;  and  it  is  true,  that  in   various  res- 
pects, it  would  be  highly  improper  to  do  so  :  but  in  things   which 
are  common  to  Christ  and   his  followers,  it  is  very  proper.     Now 
this  is  the  case  in  the  present  instance.     The  disciples  of  Christ 
were  given   to   expect  that  their  doctrine  would  draw  upon  them 
the  displeasure  of  unbelievers,  in  the   same  manner  as  that  of 
Christ  had  done  before  them.     Remember  the  word  that  I  said  un- 
to you,  The  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  Lord.     If  they  have, 
persecuted  me,  they  will  also  persecute  you  :  if  they  have  kept  my 
saying,  they  will  keep  yours  also.]      If  Major   Scott  Waring    had 
known  any  thing  of  the  gospel,  and  uf  its  opposition  to  the  vicious 
inclinations  of  the  human  heart,  he  could  not  have  stumbled  in  the 
manner  he  has,  at  Mr.  Ward's  application  of  the  words  of  cjr  Sa- 
viour, in  Luke  vii.  51.      He  had  introduced  them  before,  and  now 
he    introduces    them  again  and  again,  (pp.    80.99.)     Suppose  ye 
that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  the  earth  ?  I  tell  you.  Nay.  "These 
words,"'  he   says,  "  most  evidently  consideretl  with   their  context, 
apply  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which  our  blessed  Saviour 
predicted  would  happen  before   the  generation  then  existing  had 

*  See  Peiiodif.ul  ArrouiUs,  \o.  WF.  p.  J70.  t  Johnxv.  20. 


252  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  U 

passed  away."  So  then,  Christ  came  to  set  fire  to  Jerusalem ' 
But  how  was  it  already  kindled.  Almost  any  commentator  would 
have  taught  him  that  these  words  have  no  reference  to  Jewish 
wars,  but  to  Christian  persecutions,  which  were  predicted  to  take 
place  at  the  same  time.  Neither  do  they  express,  as  I  have  said 
before,  what  was  the  direct  tendency  of  the  gospel,  which  is  doubt- 
less to  produce  love  and  peace,  but  that  of  which,  through  man's 
depravity,  it  would  be  the  occasion.  In  this  sense  Mr.  Ward  ap- 
plied the  text,  in  order  to  account  for  the  persecution  which  the 
native  converts  met  with  ;  and  I  should  not  have  supposed  that  a 
man  of  Major  Scott  Waring's  age  and  talents  could  have  construed 
it  into  a  suggestion  that  the  natural  tendency  of  the  gospel  is  to 
produce  division. 

The  Major  proposes  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Owen,  that  they  should 
"  preserve  the  manners  of  gentlemen  in  arguing  the  question." 
(p.  4.)  Is  it  then  becoming  to  the  pen  of  a  gentlemen  to  write  as 
he  has  done  of  Mr.  Thomas,  and  the  other  Missionaries  ?*     Or 

*  Having  lately  received  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  of  respectability  in 
Scotland,  concerning  the  calumny  on  the  memory  of  Mr.  Thomas,!  shall  take 
the  liberty  of  introducing  it  in  this  place,  as  a  farther  vindication  of  this  in- 
jured character. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  An  anonymous  pamphlet*  has  this  day  fallen  into  my  hands,  which  is  as- 
cribed to  a  gentleman  who  formerly  held  a  high  rank  in  the  East  India  Com- 
pany''s  military  service,  and  of  which  it  is  the  principal  object  to  induce  the 
East  India  Company  to  expel  every  Protestant  Missionary  from  the  posses- 
sions, and  to  prevent  the  circulation  of  the  scriptures  in  the  native  languages. 

"  Among  the  numerous  and  virulent  misrepresentations  which  this  work 
contains,  there  is  a  most  false  and  scandalous  aspersion  of  the  cliaracter  of  the 
late  M..  Thomas,  who  was  the  firstMissionary  of  your  Society  in  hidia,  which, 
from  my  personal  acquaintance  with  that  gentleman,  I  am  enabled  to  contra- 
dict in  the  most  positive  manner,  and  which,  from  my  regard  for  his  memory, 
I  deem  it  my  duty  so  to  contradict. 

•'  The  author  asserts,  in  p.  46,  and  again  in  p.  51,  of  the  preface,  that  Mr. 
Thomas  died  raving  mad  tn  Bengal.  It  is  indeed  true,  that  Mr.  Thomas  was 
once  afflicted  with  a  temporary  derangement ;  but  it  was  a  considerable  time 
before  his  death.     From  the  summer  of  1796,  till  May  1801, 1  held  an  official 

*  Major  Scott  Waring's  Observations,  &c. 


KAnrllT  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  253 

liocs  he  think  himself  at  liberty,  n  hen  dealing  with  them,  to  put  otT 
!h;it  chamctcr  ?  If  his  own  motives  bo  arraigneil,  or  his  Chris- 
tianity suspected,  he  think<;  himself  rudely  treated  ;  yet,  when 
speaking  of  men  who  secede  from  the  Kstablished  Church,  he  can 
allow  himself  to  insinuate  that  they  do  not  act  from  principle, 
(p.  58.) 

situation  in  the  Company's  civil  service  at  Dinagcpore ;  and  during  the  last  six 
munlhs  of  tins  period,  I  had  very  frequent  intercourse  with  Mr.  Thomas,  and 
licard  hiuj  |)reuch  almost  every  Sunday  :  and  i  mo«t  solemnly  affirm,  that 
I  never  saw  the  least  symptom  of  derangement  in  any  part  of  his  behaviour 
or  conversation.  Ou  the  contrary,  I  considered  him  as  a  man  of  good  under- 
stand ins;,  uncommon  benevolence,  and  solid  piety. 

*'  Id  May  1801,  I  fjuitted  Dina^cpore,  and  never  a^^ain  saw  Mr,  Thomas ; 
but  I  had  more  than  one  letter  from  him,  between  that  time  and  hi^dcath,  which 
liappcned,  I  think,  in  October,  the  same  year.  These  letters,  whicli  are  still 
in  my  possession,  exhibit  no  signs  whatever  of  mental  derangement.  In  the 
last  of  them  he  wrote  (with  the  calmness  and  hope  of  a  Christian)  of  his  own 
dissolution  ;  an  event  which  he  thought  was  near  at  hand,  as  he  felt  some 
internal  symptoms  of  the  formation  of  a  polypus  iu  his  heart. 

"  After  Mr.  Thomas's  decease,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  learning  the  cir- 
cumstances of  it,  from  the  late  Mr.  Samuel  Powel,  a  person  whose  veracity 
none  who  knew  him  could  question  ;  and  I  never  had  the  smallest  reason  to 
believe  or  suspect  that  Mr.  Thomas  was,  in  any  degree  whatever,  deranged 
in  mind  at  the  time  of  his  death.  On  the  contrary,  I  always  understood  thai 
ho  died  in  possession  of  his  faculties,  and  of  that  hope  which  nothing  bnl  an 
unshaken  faith  in  the  gospel  of  Christ  can  give. 

"It  is  not  my  present  purpose  to  vindicate  t/ie  living,  from  the  roarse  and 
vulgar  abufe  of  this  anonymous  author.  Tiiis  you  have  undertaken,  and  are 
well  qualified  to  do  :  but,  as  he  has  thought  it  necessary  to  insult  the  charac- 
ter of //ierf<<7f/,  and  wound  the  feelings  of  surviving  friends  ;  and  as  I  am,  per- 
haps, the  only  person  now  in  Great  Britain,  who  can,  from  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  Mr.  Thomas  during  the  last  year  of  his  life,  do  any  thin''  to  rescue 
his  memory  from  this  unmerited  insult,  I  should  think  it  criminal  to  have 
remained  silent  on  this  occasion.  And  I  am  happy  thus  to  make  some  return 
for  the  instructions  I  received  from  Mr.  Thomas  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  and 
the  pleasure  I  frequently  enjoyed  in  his  society  and  conversation. 

"  You  are  at  liberty  to  make  any  use  ofthis  letter  that  you  may  think  proper. 
"  Beheve  me  to  be, 

"  Dear  Sir,  very  sincerely  yours, 

"WILLIA.M  CUMXGHAMK." 

Glasgow,  Jan.  \r,,  180R. 


264  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  II, 

As  to  the  charges  of  "  ignorance  and  bigotry,"  which  he  is  con- 
tinually ringing  in  our  ears,  I  refer  to  the  answers  already  given 
in  my  Strictures.  It  is  allowed,  that  "  Mr.  Carey  may  be  a  good 
oriental  scholar,  and  a  good  man;  but  he  is  narrow-minded  and 
intemperate."  (p.  33.)  The  proof  of  this  is  taken  from  the  con- 
duct of  his  S071  at  Dacca.  The  mistake  as  to  the  person  is  excusa- 
ble; but  what  was  there  in  the  conduct  of  either  of  the  young  men 
on  that  occasion,  which  showed  them  to  be  narrow-minded  or  in- 
temperate ?  They  felt,  though  they  were  not  apostles,  for  a  great 
city  wholly  given  to  idolatry;  for  they  bad  read  in  their  Bibles 
that  "  idolaters  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God."  This  was 
narrowness  !  But  when  Major  Scott  Waring  proposes  to  exclude 
all  denominations  of  Christian  Missionaries  from  India,  except  those 
of  the  Established  Church,  I  suppose  he  reckons  this  consistent 
with  liberality.* 

With  regard  to  intemperateness,  I  know  of  nothing  like  it  in  the 
conduct  of  these  junior  Missionaries,  They  gave  away  tracts  to 
those  who  came  to  their  boat  for  thera,  and  wished  to  have  taken  a 
stand  in  the  city  for  the  like  purpose:  but,  being  interrupted,  they 
retured  home;  not  declining,  however,  to  do  that  which  had  been 
done  for  years  without  offence,  during  the  administration  of  Mar- 
quis Wellesle}';  namely,  to  distribute  tracts  in  the  villages.  As 
to  the  Marquis  Cornwallis,  or  any  other  person,  being  absent  from 
Calcutta,  it  had  just  as  much  influence  in  causing  their  journey,  as 
Major  Scott  Waring's  being  at  the  same  time,  perchance,  at  Peter- 
borough House. 

But  their  language  is  cant.  The  Major,  however,  might  find 
plenty  of  such  cant  in  the  communications  of  Schwartz  and  his  col- 
leagues, to  The  Society  for  Promoting  Christiaii  K?ioxi;leLlge,  if  he 
would  only  look  over  the  East  India  Intelligence  in  their  Reports. 
These,  he  tells  us,  were  Missionaries  in  his  time,  and  of  them  be 
approves:  yet  if  their  letters  were  printed  in  our  accounts,  they 

*Such  is  the  notion  oi  liberalily  and  loleralion  which  I  ventured  to  denounce 
in  my  Letter  to  the  Chairman  of  the  East  India  Company  ;  and  1  wish  I  were 
able  to  draw  the  serious  attention  of  every  friend  to  religious  liberty  in  Brit 
ain  to  the  subject.  Thesr  men  talk  of  liberty,  while  they  are  razing  it  to  its 
foundation. 


I'ART  M.J  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  ^55 

would  equally  fail  under  his  eensure.  The  truth  is,  the  language 
of  a  serious  mind,  formed  on  scriptural  principles,  will  always 
sound  like  cant  in  the  ears  of  such  men  as  this  author. 

Major  Scott  Waring  makes  a  curious  distinction  betweon  a  f^ra- 
fintous  circulation  of  the  scriptures,  and  a  giving  ihcm  to  piLition- 
trs.  The  former  he  opposes;  but  to  the  Utter,  he  says,  *'  no 
Christian  can  o!)ject."  (p.  48.)  Wherein  then  consists  the  mighty 
difference  ?  In  the  one  case  they  are  olTered  for  acceptance,  if 
the  party  please;  in  the  other,  the  party  himself  makes  the  appli- 
("ation:  but  in  neither  is  there  any  thing  done,  but  with  his  full 
consent.  No  dilfcrence  exists  as  to  the  cflects;  for  if  an  individu- 
al petition  for  a  New  Testament,  as  soon  as  the  brahmansor  other 
interested  persons  come  to  know  it,  they  will  be  just  as  uneasy, 
and  as  likely  to  revile  him,  as  if  he  had  received  it  without  peti- 
tioning, hut,  I  suppose,  Major  Scott  Waring  may  think  that  if 
nothing  were  done,  except  in  consecjuence  of  applications  from  the 
natives,  nothing  in  eflect  would  be  done,  and  this  would  please 
him  !  After  all,  1  question  whether  the  greater  part  of  the  New 
'I'estaments  which  have  been  distributed,  have  not  been  given  as 
•'  a  dole  of  charity  to  petitioners.'''  An  indiscriminate  distribution 
would  be  throwing  them  away:  it  is  therefore  an  object  with  the 
Missionaries  to  give  Testaments  only  to  persons  who  desire  them, 
and  who  are,  therctore,  likely  to  read  them.  So  I  hope  we  shall 
pka^e  better  as  we  iinderstand  one  another. 

It  seems  to  grieve  the  Major,  that  Christians  of  almost  all  de- 
nominations are  united  against  him;  but  he  and  his  colleagues  have 
{o  thank  themselves  for  this.  Mad  their  attack  been  directed 
merely  against  a  few  Dissenters,  they  might  have  had  some  chance. 
of  succeeding:  but  it  is  so  broad,  that  no  man  who  has  any  feeling 
tor  Christianity,  can  view  it  in  any  other  light,  than  an  attempt  to 
crush  it  in  our  Eastern  possessions.  It  is  an  attempt  to  stop  the 
progress  of  the  Bible;  and  therefore  must  be  absolutely  Antichris- 
tian.  Whether  Major  Scott  Waring  perceives  his  error  in  this 
respect,  and  wishes  to  repair  it,  or  whatever  be  his  motive, ^c 
certainly  labours  in  this,  his  second  performance,  to  divide  hi.^ 
opponents.  Ftrai,  he  would  fain  persuade  them  that  he  himself  is 
a  Christian,  which  it  is  very  possible  he  may  be  in  his  own  esteem: 


256  A^'  Al'OLOGY  [Part  H. 

and  secondly,  he  would  be  very  glad  to  single  out  these  sectariaa 
Missionaries  as  the  only  objects  of  his  dislike.  It  grieves  him  sorely 
that  they  should  have  been  encouraged  by  Clergymen.  If  they 
would  but  discard  these  men,  I  know  not  but  they  might  obtain 
forgiveness  for  being  evangelical.  But  if  not,  he  will  do  his  utmost 
to  prove  that  they  are  not  the  true  sons  of  the  Church.  ''  1  never 
met  vvith  a?i  evangelical  Clergyman,^^  he  says,  "  who  had  not  a 
tender  feeling  for  those  who  have  deserted  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, though  at  one  time  Conformists."  Allowing  this  to  be  the 
case,  he  might  have  supposed  it  was  for  their  holding  evangelical 
principles  in  common  with  themselves,  and  not  on  account  of  their 
deserting  the  Church.  And  whatever  feeling  they  might  have 
towards  those  Christians  who  are  not  of  their  own  communion,  it  is 
surely  as  pardonable  as  that  which  this  author  and  his  party  have 
toward  Mahometans  and  heatheni-. 

This  writer  seems  to  think,  that  unless  the  whole  population  of 
India  were  converted,  nothing  is  done.  If  forty  in  a  year  were  to 
embrace  Christianity,  that  is  nothing  in  his  account.  He  should 
consider,  however,  that  we  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  in  the  importance  of  eternal  salvation.  We  should  not  think 
our  labour  lost,  therefore,  if  we  could  be  the  instruments  of  saving 
half  that  number.  We  know,  moreover,  that  the  greatest  and 
most  beneficial  events  to  mankind  have  arisen  from  small  begin- 
nings. Hence  we  pay  no  regard  to  such  objections;  and  even 
the  flouts  and  sneers  of  our  adversaries  are  far  from  discouraging 
us.  We  compare  them  with  those  otSanballat  the  Horoniie,  and 
Tobiah  the  Ammonite,  who  were  grieved  exceedingly  that  there  was 
come  a  man  to  seek  the  welfare  of  the  children  of  Israel.  What  do 
these  feeble  Jews  ?  said  the  one:  will  they  fortify  themselves?  will 
they  sacrifice  ?  will  they  make  an  end  in  a  day  ?  Even  that  which 
they  build,  answered  the  other,  if  a  fox  go  up,  he  shall  even  break 
doivn  their  stone  wall.  Yet  Nehemiah  went  on  with  the  work,  and 
the  wall  was  built. 

The  author  still  continues  to  revile  Mr.  [William]  Carey,  and  Mr. 
Moore,  for  what  they  wrote  in  their  journal  at  Dacca,  caUing  it 
"downright  nonsense;"  and  still  speaks  of  them  as  "  ignorant  men," 
on  account  of  it.     The  reader  may  see  what  this  nonsense  was_. 


Fart  H.]  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  057 

by  only  turning  to  Pari  1.  p.  242.  Reiuler,  can  you  tell  us  wherein 
lies  the  nonsense  of  this  language  ?  for  we  are  unable  to  discover 
it.  Major  Scott  Waring  has  been  told,  that,  as  the  language  of 
the  young  men  was  taken  from  the  words  of  scripture,  in  reviling 
ihem  he  blasphemes  the  word  of  God.  And  what  is  his  answer? 
As  far  a?  1  can  understand  it,  it  amounts  to  this:  The  same  things 
which  were  very  wise  in  Paul,  and  in  our  Saviour,  are  very  foolish 
jn  these  young  men.  (p.  89.)  But  there  may  come  a  time  when 
it  shall  appear,  even  to  this  gentleman,  that  things  are  the  same, 
whether  they  be  in  an  apostle  or  in  any  other  man;  and  that  he 
who  revileth  the  'u;ords  of  Christ,  revileth  Christ ;  and  he  that  re- 
vileth  Christ,  revilrth  him  tliat  sent  him 


Vol.  III.  3.3 


REMARKS 


A  VINDICATION  OF  THE  HINDOOS. 
BY  A  BEJSG,n.  OFFICERS' 


Since  tlie  publications  of  Messrs.  Twining  and  Scott  Waring, 
another  piece  has  appeared,  entitled,  A  Vindication  of  the  Hindoos 
from  the  Aspersions  of  The  Rev.  Claudius  Buchanan,  M.  A.;  with 
a  Refutation  nf  the  Arguments  exhibited  in  his  Memoir  on  the  Expe- 
diency  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Establishment  for  Rritish  India,  and 
the  ultimate  Civilization  of  the  Natives  by  t/teir  Conversion  to 
Christianity.  Abo,  Remarks  on  an  Address  from  the  Missionaries 
in  Bengal  to  the  J^'atives  of  India,  cmidemning  their  Errors,  and 
inviting  them  to  become  Christians.  The  whole  tending  to  evince 
the.  Excellency  of  the  Moral  System  of  the  Hindoos,  and  the  Danger 
of  interfering  with  their  Customs  or  Religion.  By  a  Bengal  Offi- 
cer. 

This  production  surpasses  all  that  have  gone  before  it.  Messrs. 
Twining  and  Scott  Waring  were  desirous  of  being  considered  as 
Christians;  hut  if  this  writer  does  not  formally  avow  his  Infideli- 
ty, he  takes  so  little  care  to  disguise  it,  that  no  doubt  can  remain 
on  the  subject.  After  having  ascribed  the  Protestant  religion  to 
"  reason"  rather  than  revelation;  (pp.  9,  10.)  pretended  that  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  was  first  revealed  in  Hindostan;  (p.  28.) 
questioned  whether  Christianity  be  at  all  necessary  to  the  im- 
provement  of  the    Indian    svjitem    of  moral  ordinances;  (p.  11.) 


260  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  II 

preferred  the  heathen  notions  of  transmigration  to  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  future  punishment;  (p.  47-)  and  framed  a  Geeta  of  his 
own  in  favour  of  purgatory;  (p.  48.)  after  all  this,  I  say,  and  much 
more,  he  cannot,  with  any  consistency,  pretend  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian.* 

If  he  believe  in  any  thing  pertaining  to  religion,  beyond  the 
dictates  of  his  own  reason,  it  is  in  the  revelations  of  his  "divine 
Menu."  He  is  fond  of  calling  these  institutes  by  the  name  of 
scripture,  and  reasons  from  them  against  our  endeavouring  to  con- 
vince and  convert  the  Hindoos,  (pp.  15,  16,  22,  23.)  1 1  is  an 
unfortunate  circumstance,  that  the  Hindoo  religion  admits  of  no 
proselytes  :  otherwise  this  writer  must,  ere  now,  have  been  in- 
vested with  the  honour  of  a  poitou. 

The  gentleman  complains  of  his  want  of  "  eloquence."  (p.  3.) 
There  is,  however,  in  his  performance,  much  that  tends  to  dazzle 
the  mind  of  the  reader.  But,  as  he  professes  "  to  decline  the  fac- 
titious aid  of  false  appearances,"  I  shall  attend  only  to  facts,  and 
to  the  reasoning  which  is  founded  upon  them. 

I  must  also  be  allowed  to  confine  my  remarks  to  what  immedi- 
ately relates  to  the  late  Christian  Missions  to  India.  With  an 
Ecclesiastical  Establishment  1  have  no  concern.  This  much, 
however,  I  will  say,  The  treatment  of  Dr.  Buchanan,  by  this  wri- 
ter, is  most  indecent.  Whatever  were  the  motives  of  that  gentle- 
man, he  cannot  prove  them  to  have  been  either  mercenary  or  am- 
bitious. W^here  then  is  the  justice,  or  candour,  of  his  insinua- 
tions ?  But  why  do  1  complain  ?  Candid  treatment  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected from  an  anonymous  accuser. 

This  writer's  pen  appears  to  have  been  taken  up  on  occasion  of 
a  manuscript  falling  in  his  hands,  "  professing  to  be  a  translation  of 
an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  India,  from  the  Missionaries  of 
Serampore,  inviting  them  to  become  Christians."  (p.  1.)  From 
this  address  he  has  given  several  extracts  ;  and  the  chief  of  his  re- 
marks, in  the  first  part  of  his  pamphlet,  are  founded  upon  it. 

*  In  the  last  two  pages  he  has  put  marks  of  quotation  to  his  own  words, 
and  represented  them  as  the  reasonings  of  the  Hindoos ! 


Part  11.]  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  261 

Htit  before  he  or  Major  Scott  Waring  had  thus  publicly  animad- 
verted on  a  private  translation,  thoy  should  have  known  a  few 
particulars  concerning  it.  How  could  they  tell  whether  it  was 
drawn  up  by  the  Missionaries  ?  Or,  if  it  were,  whether  the  trans- 
lation were  faithful  ?  I  can  assure  them  and  the  public,  that  it  was 
not  written  by  a  European,  but  by  a  native  ;  and  that  the  transla- 
tion is  very  far  from  being  afaiihfttl  one.  In  referring  to  the  first 
of  these  circumstances,  I  do  not  mean  either  to  disparage  the  tract 
or  the  writer,  nor  to  exempt  the  Missionaries  from  having  a  con- 
cern in  it.  Tlu.'y  doubtles«  approved  of  it,  and  printed  it,  and  it 
was  circulated  as  an  addrcssyrom  them.  All  I  mean  to  say  on  this 
point  is,  that  some  allowance  should  be  made  for  the  style  or  man- 
ner of  address,  as  coming  from  a  Hindoo.  At  the  same  time  it 
may  be  presumed,  that  no  Hindoo  would  call  his  own  countrymen 
barbarians. 

With  respect  to  the  translation,  it  was  done  by  a  person  who 
did  not  choose  to  put  his  name  to  it,  and  apparently  with  the  de- 
sign of  inflaming  the  minds  of  the  Directors  and  of  Government 
against  the  Missionaries.  Whether  we  are  to  ascribe  his  errors 
to  this  cause,  or  to  ignorance,  I  shall  not  determine  :  but  that  the 
most  offensive  ideas  contained  in  the  translation  are  not  in  the 
original,  is  a  fact.  Nothing  is  said  in  the  tract  itself  about  ''their 
books  of  philosophy  ;"  nor  are  they  said  to  be  "  fit  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  children."  The  Hindoos  are  not  called  "  barbarians," 
nor  their  shasters  "the  shasters  of  barbarians,"  nor  are  they  de- 
'•ired  to  "  abominate  them." 

I  have  bct'ore  me  the  translation  from  wliich  this  author  appears 
to  have  taken  his  extracts,  anri  another  by  Mr.  .loLn  Fernandez,  a 
gentleman  who  is  now  with  Dr.  Kyland  at  Bristol,  and  »vho  will  be 
answerable  for  its  fidelity.  I  shall  present  the  reader  with  the  first  2 1 
verses  of  both,  in  two  opposite  columns  ;  and  as  the  14th,  15th,  and 
20th  verses,  are  those  which  contain  the  supposed  offensive  pas- 
sages, I  shall  give  in  them  the  original  words  in  English  characters, 
?o  that  any  person  who  understands  the  language,  may  judge  of 
both  the  translations.  I  have  also  authority  to  say,  that  any  per- 
son who  can  read  Bengalee,  may  have  one  of  the  original  tracts,, 
by  applying  to  Dr.  Ryland. 


262 


A\  APOLOGY 


[Part  II. 


Translation  from    ~ji;hich   the         Translation  by  Mr.  John  Fer- 
Vindicator  appears  to  have  taTccn     nandez. 
his  extracts. 


THE    MESSENGER    OF 
GLAD  TIDINGS. 

1.  Hear,  all  ye  people  of  the 
land,  hear  with  attention,  how  ye 
may  obtain  salvation  from  hell, 
hard  to  escape ! 

2.  No  one  is  able  to  describe 
it !  the  thought  of  money  and 
riches  is  vain. 

3.  All  such  things  are  calcu- 
lated only  for  this  life  ;  let  all 
men  observe  that  this  world  is 
not  eternal. 

4.  The  enjoyment  of  all  these 
goods  is  but  for  a  short  time  : 
for  at  his  death  no  one  can  take 
his  riches  with  him. 

5.  He  must  resign  all  his  gar- 
ments, ornaments,  and  health,  to 
his  kindred  ;  for  after  that  he 
will  have  no  corporeal  form. 

6.  Know  all  ye  people,  that 
after  life  comes  death  ;  and  after 
death,  the  going  to  heaven  or 
hell. 

7.  Unless  you  are  cleansed 
■from  evil,  you  will  not  go  to  hea- 
ven ;  yo  will  be  cast  headlong 
into  the  awful  regions  of  hell. 


THE  GOSPEL  MESSEN- 
GER. 

1.  Hear,  O  people  of  the 
world,  hear  with  one  mind ; 
from  hell  tremendous,  how  will 
you  find  salvation  ? 

2.  None  of  you  are  inquiring 
about  these  things  ;  incessantly 
mindful  of  rupees  and  cowries. 

3.  All  these  things  are  for 
this  world,  this  is  a  transitory 
world  ;  see,  every  one. 

4.  These  things  are  needful 
only  for  a  short  time :  after 
death,  riches  will  never  go  with 
you. 

5.  You  will  leave  these  rich- 
es, jewels,  apparel,  behind 
you  :  a  stop  being  put  to  these 
things,  they  will  be  utterly 
useless. 

6.  Having  once  been  born, 
you  know  you  must  die  :  after 
death  you  must  go  either  to 
heaven  or  hell. 

7.  Without  the  pardon  of  sin 
you  will  never  go  to  heaven  j 
but  headlong  you  will  fall  into 
the  thick  gloom  of  hell- 


PautII] 


I'indicator. 

8.  Whiit  sort  of  place  hell  is, 
or  what  are  its  torments,  no 
one  knows  ;  no  one  is  able  to 
imagine. 

9,  Hell  is  full  of  inevitable 
sufferings,  in  the  niiiUt  of  fire 
nevcrto  be  extinguished  ;  its  ex- 
finclion  will  never  come  to  pass. 

10.  Having  fallen  into  it, 
brethren,  there  is  then  no  salva- 
tion ;  its  beginning,  and  its  dura- 
tion are  of  infinite  time. 

1 1.  With  constant  meditation, 
fear  lest  hereafter  ye  fall  into 
this  dreadful  pit  of  hell  ;  into 
that  fire  which  cannot  be  quench- 
ed. 

12.  Form  a  remedy,  O  peo- 
ple, form  a  remedy  ;  for  without 
a  remedy  ye  shall  not  obtain 
salvation. 

13.  In  other  sastras  there  is 
not  any  account  of  salvation  ; 
and  how  many  discourses  there 
are  upon  the  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies peculiar  to  people  of  dif- 
♦erent  countries. 


14.  Koth  Hindoos  and  INIusul- 
jnans  have  many  sastras  ;  mo^t 
of  which  wo  have  examined. 


FOR  CII1U6TIAN  MISSIONS.  0(53 

J.  Fernandez. 
8.  What   hell    is,    what   tor- 


ments there  are  in  it,  you  know 
not  ;  therefore  you  are  not  con- 
cerned. 

9.  The  dreadful  hell  is  full 
of  unquenchable  fire  ;  its  ex- 
tinction will  never  be  ! 

10.  Falling  therein,  brother, 
there  is  no  deliverance  :   eter- 
nity's bound  will  only  be  its  be 
ginning  ! 

11.  Fear,  lest  you  fall  inlo 
this  dreadful  hell.  Beware,  O 
beware  of  ibis  unquenchable 
t'urnace  ! 

12.  Take  refuge  in  Ciiursr? 
take  refuge ;  without  a  refuge 
none  will  receive  salvation. 

13.  la  other  shasters  there 
is  no  news  of  redemption  ;  they 
contain  so  many  expressions  of 
national  rites  and  custom?. 


Hindoo  mosolinancr  bohooach 
shastor  taharhoddonio  mora  ko 
reenoo  bistor. 

14.  Hindoos  and  musulman* 
have  many  shasters  ;  we  have 
investigated  Ihem  thoroughly. 

Brokritlo  ooddhar  totto  nahee- 
ka  tiihay  hallijanondo  shastro 
sq/e  oopokoW  har  neyay. 


264 


AN  APOLOGY 


[Part  II; 


Vindicator.  J.  Fernandez. 

15.  In  none  of  them  are  to  be  15.  True  search  for  deliver- 
found  the  principles  of  the  true  ance  (from  the  wrath  to  coaie) 
salvation  ;  those  your  sastras  there  is  not  in  them  ;  children- 
are  fit  only  for  the  amusement  enticing  shasters  they  are,  like 
of  children,  and  your  books  of  fabulous  tales. 

philosophy  are  mere  fables. 

16.  Formerly  we  ourselves  16.  Ours  were  formerly  such 
had  only  such  sastras  ;  but,  hav-  kind  of  shasters;  but,  finding 
ing  obtained  the  great  sastra,  we  the  great  shaster,  we  threw 


flung  those  away. 

17.  The  great  sastra  of  re- 
ligion contains  glad  tidings  ;  for 
in  it  alone  is  to  be  found  the 
way  to  salvation. 

18.  The  great  sastra  of  re- 
ligion had  not  appeared  here  : 
sometime  since  we  obtained  it, 
and  have  now  brought  it  here. 

19.  Hear,  hear,  ye    people, 


away  the  other. 

17.  This  holy  book  is  the 
good  news  of  salvation  ;  the 
way  of  deliverance  is  in  that 
alone. 

]  8  The  holy  book  was  not 
made  known  here  ;  sometime 
ago  we  received  it,  now  we 
have  brought  it  hither. 

19.  Hear  ye,  hear  ye  O  peo- 


hear  with   due   attention!    Let     pie,  hear  with  attention  !  Whose- 
him  who  is   willing  come,    and 
we  will  cause  it  to  be  read. 


20.  Hereafter  do  ye  and 
your  brethren  abominate  the 
discourses  of  barbarians  :  the 
sastras  of  barbarians  contain 
not  the  means  of  salvation. 

21.  If  you  and  your  brethren 
wish  for  the  means  of  salvation, 
be  attentive,  and  hear  somewhat 
of  an  example,  kc. — 


soever   wish    it    is,  come — we 
will  cause  you  to  hear. 

Mleech'ho  boles  ghrinnd  pache 
korroho  shobbdy  mleech'ho  shas- 
tro  nohhe  ey  trdnner  oopdy. 

20.  Lest  you  should  hereaf- 
ter call  it  the  barbarian's  (shas- 
ter) and  should  hate  it,  (this  is 
not  the  barbarian's  shaster  but 
a  remedy  for  your  salvation.) 

21.  A  little  of  its  contents  we 
must  declare  ;  hear  with  your 
mind,  if  you  wish  for  a  rem- 
edy.— 


The  writer  of  the  tract  then  proceeds  to  give  a  sketch  of  scrip- 
ture doctrine,  &c. 


pautii.j  for  christian  missions.  266 

Tlieieidcr  will  here  perceive,  that,  instead  ol' calling  them 
barbinan*,  and  telling  them  to  abominate  their  barbarian  shasters 
and  (li'«course.s,  the  Missionaries  niorely  intioat  them  not  to  abom- 
inate the  Bible  as  boiiii;  what  they  term  the  shasler  of  the  JiVlcc- 
dies,  or  imc/can  ;  for  so  they  denominate  all  who  are  not  of  the 
cast.  It  was  on  this  account  that  a  brahman  urged  another  brah- 
man who  had  conversed  with  IMr.  Thomas,  and  thought  favour- 
ably of  him,  to  go  and  wash  his  clothes  ;  for,  said  he,  he  is  M'- 
leech,  (or  unclean,)  if  not  JiUhy.  The  other  replied,  that  filthy 
men  did  tilthy  deeds  ;  whereas  he  could  never  say  so  of  this  Eng- 
ishman,  and  he  would   not  go  and  wash  his  clothes.* 

Thus  has  this  tract  not  only  been  mistranslated,  and  its  mistrans- 
lations largely  quoted  anil  descanted  upon  ;  but  our  adversaries 
iiave  represented  its  circulation  in  India  as  that  which  must  needs 
have  provoked  the  natives  to  rise  up  against  the  Missionaries.  It 
was  this  that  Major  Scott  Waring  alleged  as  a  reason  why  he  should 
not  have  wondered,  if  they  had  thrown  them  into  the  Ganges. t 
Yet,  when  the  truth  comes  to  be  stated,  it  appears  that  the  inflam- 
matory passages  in  the  tract  have  been  inserted  by  some  unknown 
person,  engaged  in  the  same  cause  tvith  himself.  There  is  no 
proof  that  the  tract  itself,  or  any  other  tract,  was  ever  known  to 
give  any  such  ofl'ence  to  the  natives  as  to  cause  them  to  treat  the 
Missionaries  ill,  either  in  words  or  actions,  I  wonder  what  these 
men  can  think  of  a  cause  which  requires  such  means  to  support 
it  ;  and  whether,  when  thus  detected,  they  be  susceptible  of  shame, 
like  other  men. 

It  is  not  enough  for  them,  on  the  authority  of  an  anonymous 
manuscript  translation,  to  accuse  the  Missionaries  of  calling  the 
natives  "  barbarians,"  &c.  but  Major  Scott  Waring  must  add, 
''This  tract  has  been  profusely  circulated  among  the  native  troops 
in  Bengal."  (p.  117.)  It  is  impossible  for  me,  at  this  distance,  to 
be  acquainted  with  every  minute  circumstance  ;  but  I  am  almost 
certain  that  there  is  no  truth  in  this  statement,  and  that  the  Mis- 
sionaries have  never  gone  among  the  native  troops    on  any  orca» 

*  See  Periodical  Accounts,  Vol.  1.  p.  2-2. 

tObservBtions,  Pre/ucf,  p.  Ixvi 

Vol.  III.  .31 


266  AN  Al'OLOGY"  [Part  U. 

sion.  If,  however,  it  be  true,  let  Major  Scott  Waring  prove  it. 
I  challenge  him  to  do  so  by  any  other  testimony  than  that  which, 
in  a  great  number  of  instances,  has  been  proved,  I  presume,  to  be 
utterly  unworthy  of  credit. 

It  is  owing  to  such  base  representations  as  these,  particularly 
in  the  pamphlets  of  Major  Scott  Waring,  that  even  the  friends  of 
Christianity,  and  of  the  Missionaries,  have  thought  themselves 
obliged  in  justice  to  concede  that  the  latter  may  have  been  guilty 
of  indiscretions.  It  is  scarcely  possible,  while  slander  is  fly 
ing  about,  as  in  a  shower  of  poisoned  arrows,  and  before  they  have 
been  repelled,  not  to  have  our  confidence  in  some  degree  wound- 
ed. But,  while  I  freely  acknowledge  that  there  viay  have  been 
Instances  of  indiscretion,  (for  the  Missionaries  are  men,)  I  must 
insist  that  neither  Mr.  Twining,  nor  Major  Scott  Waring,  nor  the 
Bengal  Officer,  have  substantiated  a  single  charge  of  the  kind. 

The  substance  of  the  Bengal  Officer's  remarks  may  be  consid- 
ered under  three  heads  ;  namely,  the  morality  of  the  Hindoo  sys- 
tem ;  the  moral  character  of  the  Hindoos  ;  and  the  conduct  of  the 
Missionaries,  and  of  the  native  Christians. 


Of  the  Morality  of  the  Hindoo  System. 

'•  The  religious  creed  of  the  Gentoos,"  snys  Professor  White,  la 
his  Bampton  Lectures,  "is  a  system  of  the  most  barbarous  idol- 
atry. They  acknowledge  indeed  one  supreme  God  :  yet  innu- 
merable are  the  subordinate  deities  whom  they  worship,  and  in- 
numerable also  are  the  vices  and  follies  which  they  ascribe  to 
them.  With  a  blindness  which  has  ever  been  found  inseparable 
from  polytheism,  they  adore,  as  the  attributes  of  their  gods,  the 
wickedness  and  passions  which  deform  and  disgrace  human  nature; 
and  their  worship  is,  in  many  respects,  not  unworthy  of  the  deities 
who  are  the  objects  of  it.  The  favour  of  beings  which  have  no 
existence  but  in  the  imagination  of  the  superstitious  enthusiast,  is 
conciliated  by  senseless  ceremonies  and  unreasonable  mortifica- 
tions ;  by  ceremonies  which  consume  the  time  which  should  be 
dedicated  to  the  active  and  social  duties,  and  by  mortificaiions 


Part  n.  I  TOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  267 

which  strike  at  llje  root  of  every  lawful  and  innocent  enjoyment. 
What  indeed  shall  we  think  of  a  religion  which  supposes  the  expi- 
ation of  sins  to  consist  in  penances,  than  which  fancy  cannot  sug- 
gest any  thing  more  rigorous  and  absurd  ;  in  sitting  or  standing 
whole  years  in  one  unvaried  posture  ;  in  carrying  the  heaviest 
loads,  or  dragging  the  most  weighty  chains  ;  in  exposing  the  na- 
ked body  to  the  scorching  sun  ;  and  in  hanging  with  the  head 
downward  before  the  fiercest  and  most  intolerable  fire."* 

But  our  author  tells  a  very  different  tale.  He  "reposes  the 
Hindoo  svstem  on  the  luoad  basis  oC its  men  //lenV.?,  convinced  that 
on  the  eidaiged  princii)les  of  moral  reasoning  it  little  needs  the  me- 
liorating hand  of  Christian  dispensations  to  render  its  votaries  a 
sufficiently  correct  and  moral  people,  for  all  the  useful  purposes 
of  civilized  society."  (p.  9.)  Could  this  be  proved,  it  were  no 
solid  objection  to  Christian  missions.  To  argue  merely  from  what 
is  useful  to  civilized  society,  is  to  argue  as  an  Atheist.  Civilized 
society  is  not  the  chief  end  of  man.  If  there  be  an  eternal  here- 
after, it  must  be  of  infinitely  greater  moment,  both  to  governors 
and  governed,  than  all  the  affairs  of  the  greatest  empire  upon 
earth.  This  writer,  when  pleading  the  cause  of  "  beggars  by 
profession,"  (as  Major  Scott  Waring  calls  the  Hindoo  byraggees 
when  tiiey  have  left  that  profession  and  become  Christians,)  can 
allege,  that  religion  ought  not  to  be  subservient  to  mere  worldly 
interest;  (p.  76.)  but  when  his  cause  requires  it,  he  can  turn 
about  and  contend  that  that  which  is  suflicient  for  the  purposes 
of  civil  society  is  all  that  is  necessary.  The  cause  of  God  and 
truth  requires  that  such  an  atheistical  principle  should  be  repel- 
led, otherwise  1  should  have  no  objection  to  meet  him  even  upon 
this  ground,  persuaded  as  I  am,  that  whatever  is  right  for  another 
life  is  wise  for  this. 

But  let  us  attend  to  *'  the  excellence  of  the  religious  and  moral 
doctrines  of  the  Hindoos,"  as  taught  in  Tke  Institutes  o/"Menu,  and 
in  other  books.  From  these,  especially  the  former,  we  are  fiir- 
oishp<l  with  numerous  quotations,  occasionally  interspersed  with 

*  Sermnn   X.  p.   12. 


2!58  AX  APOLOGY  [Part  II. 

triumphant  questions;  such  as  "  Are  these  tales  for  children  ?" 
"  Are  these  the  discourses  of  barbarians  ?" 

On  the  Institutes  of  Menu,  I  would  offer  a  few  remarks — 
First:  Let  them  possess  ichat  excellency  they  may,  they  are  un- 
known to  the  people.  The  millions  of  Hindostan  have  no  access  to 
them.  Sir  William  Jones  did  indeed  persuade  the  brahmans  to 
communicate  them  to  him;  and  by  his  translation,  and  the  aid  of 
the  press,  the  European  world  are  now  acquainted  with  them,  as 
well  as  with  other  productions  to  which  our  author  refers  us:  but 
to  the  Hindoo  population  they  are  as  though  they  existed  not. 
The  lower  classes  are  by  their  law  subjected  to  penalty  for  hear- 
ing any  pai't  of  the  Vedas  read.  The  young  are  not  taught  princi- 
ples from  this  work ;  and  it  never  furnishes  a  text  for  discours- 
ing to  the  adult.  There  is,  indeed,  no  such  thing  as  moral  educa- 
tion, or  moral  preaching,  among  the  great  body  of  the  people. 
They  know  far  less  of  the  doctrines  of  Menu,  than  the  vulgar  Pa- 
gans of  ancient  Greece  knew  of  the  writings  of  Plato.  It  is,  there- 
fore, utterly  fallacious  and  disingenuous  to  quote  this  work  as  a 
standard  of  opinion  or  practice  among  the  Hindoo  people,  seeing  it 
is  little  more  known  to  the  bulk  of  them  than  if  it  had  no  existence. 
Secondly:  Though  there  are  some  good  sentiments  in  these  Insti- 
tutes, yet  they  contain  a  large  portion  not  only  of  puerility,  hut  of 
immorality ,  which  this  writer  has  carefully  passed  over.  Sir  Wil- 
liam Jones  says  of  the  work,  that  "with  many  beauties,  which 
need  not  be  pointed  out,  it  contains  marty  blemishes  which  cannot 
be  justified,  or  palliated.  It  is  a  system  of  despotism  and  priest- 
craft, both  indeed  limited  by  law,  but  artfully  conspiring  to  give 
mutual  support,  though  with  mutual  checks.  It  is  filled  with 
strange  conceits  in  metaphysics  and  natural  philosophy,  with  idle 
superstitions,  and  with  a  scheme  of  theology  most  obscurely  figu- 
rative, and  consequently  liable  to  dangerous  misconceptions.  It 
abounds  with  minute  and  childish  formalities,  with  ceremonies 
generally  absurd,  and  often  ridiculous  ;  the  punishments  are  par- 
tial and  ^anciful;  for  some  crimes  dreadfully  cruel,  for  others  rep- 
rehensibly  slight;  and  the  very  morals,  though  rigid  enough  on  the 
whole,  are  in  one  or  two  instances  (as  in  the  case  of  light  oaths, 
and  pious  perjury,)  unaccountably  relaxed " 


Hart  II]  KOR  CriRISTIAN  . MISSION?.  '2^9 

The  following  specimen  may  serve  as  a  proof  of  the  justness  of 
Sir  William's  remark,  of  its  being  a  system  of  "  priestcraft." 

Ver.  313.  "  Let  not  a  king,  though  in  the  greatest  distress  for 
iDoriey,  provoke  hralunans  to  anger,  by  taking  their  property:  for 
they,  once  enraged,  could  immediately,  by  sacrifices  and  impre- 
cations, destroy  him,  with  his  troops,  elephants,  horses,  and  cars." 

V.  315.  "  What  prince  could  gain  wealth  by  oppressing  those 
who,    if  angry,  could    frame  other  worlds,  and  regents  of  worlds; 

could  GIVE   BEING  TO   NEW   (iODS,   Utul  IHUrtuls  .'^^ 

V.  31G.  "  What  man  desirous  of  life  would  injure  those  by  the 
aid  of  whom,  that  is,  by  whose  obtatioris,  worlds  and  gous  terpet- 
UALLV  subsist;   those  who  are  rich  in  the  learning  of  the  Vedas  ?" 

V.  317.  "  A  brnhman,  whether  learned  or  ignorant,  is  a  power- 
ful divinity;  even  as  fire  is  a  powerful  divinity,  whether  conse- 
crated, or  popular." 

V.  318.  '"Even  in  places  for  burning  the  dead,  the  bright  fire 
is  undefiled;  and  when  presented  with  clarified  butter,  or  subse- 
quent sacrifices,  blazes  ag;\in  with  extreme  splendor." 

V .  319.  "  Thus,  although  brahmans  employ  themselves  in  all 
sorts  of  mean  occupation,  they  must  invariably  be  honoured;  for 
they  are  something  transckndantly  divine."* 

Our  author  would  persuade  us  that  the  "  Divine  Spirit"  is  the 
grand  object  of  Hindoo  adoration:  but  he  omitted  to  tell  us  that  the 
brahmans  are  above  Him,  for  that  worlds  and  gods  subsist  bv 
their  oblations,  and  they  can  give  being  to  new  gods.  Any 
person  of  common  discernment  may  perceive,  by  this  specimen, 
that  let  these  Institutes  be  of  what  antiquity  they  may,  they  are  of 
brahminical  origin;  and  that,  in  order  to  raise  this  class  of  men 
above  the  control  of  the  civil  powers,  they  not  only  give  them 
"divinity,"  but  elevate  them  above  all  that  is  called  God  ^  or  that 
is  worshipped. 

Thirdly:  Even  those  parts  which  our  author  has  selected  and  quo- 
ted, are  very  far  from  being  unexceptionable.  On  the  two  great 
subjects  of  the  Unity  of  God,  and  the  Expiation  of  Sin,  what  do  the 
Vedas  teach  ?     What  ideas  are  we  to  attach  to  the  following  Ian 

♦Sir  William  Jones'  Works,  Vol.  III.  pp.  378,  379. 


270  AN  APOLOGY  [PAKTir 

guage  ? — "  Equally  perceiving  the  Supreme  Soul  in  all  beings,  and 
all  beings  in  the  Supreme  Soul,  he  sacrifices  his  own  spirit  by  fix- 
ing it  on  the  spirit  of  God;  and  approaches  the  nature  of  that  sole 
Divinity,  who  shines  by  his  own  effulgence." — If  there  be  any 
meaning  in  this  rhapsody,  it  corresponds  with  the  atheistical  jargon 
of  Spinoza,  confounding  the  Creator  with  the  work  of  his  hands. 

That  which  follows  is  worse. — "  The  Divine  Spirit  alone  is  the 
whole  assemblage  of  gods;  all  worlds  are  seated  in  the  Divine 
Spirit,  and  the  Divine  Spirit  no  doubt  produces,  by  a  chain  of  cau- 
ses and  elTects,  consistent  with  free  will,  the  connected  series  of 
acts  performed  by  embodied  souls."  (p.  26.) 

Such  is  their  doctrine  of  "  One  Supreme  Being  !"  Is  then  the 
infinitely  glorious  God  to  be  not  only  associated  but  identified  with 
the  rabble  of  heathen  deities,  all  which  subsist  in  the  oblations  of 
the  brahmnns  ?  Is  his  blessed  Name  to  be  annihilated  and  lost  in 
theirs  ?  Better  a  thousand  times  were  it  to  make  no  mention  of 
Him  than  to  introduce  him  in  such  company.  The  Inst  sentence, 
though  it  cautiously  guards  the  idea  of  human  agency,  so  much,  in- 
deed, as  to  possess  the  air  of  modern  composition  ;  yet  it  is  cer- 
tain, that  the  brahmans,  on  this  principle,  constantly  excuse  them- 
selves from  blame  in  all  their  deeds,  as  they  have  frequently  alleg- 
ed to  the  Missionaries,  that  it  is  not  they,  but  God  in  them,  that  per- 
forms the  evil. 

What  follows  is  still  worse. — "  We  may  contemplate  the  subtile 
aether  in  the  cavities  of  bis  [that  is  God's]  body;  the  air,  in  his 
muscular  motion  and  sensitive  nerves;  the  supreme  solar  and  ig- 
neous light,  in  his  digestive  heat  and  visual  organs;  in  his  corpo- 
real fluid,  water;  in  the  terrene  parts  of  his  tabric,  earth.  In  his 
heart,  the  moon;  in  his  auditory  nerves,  the  guardians  of  eight  re- 
gions ;*  in  his  progressive  motion,  Vish-n'u;!  in  muscular  force, 
Hara;+  in  his  organs  of  speech,  Agni;§  in  excretion,  Mitra;1I  in 
procreation,  Brahma. H" 

I  presume  the  reader  has  had  enough,  and  needs  no  reflections 
of  mine.    Let  us  hear  the  Vindicator  of  image  nvorskip.    "  It  is  true 

*"  Eight  points  of  the  compass.  t  The  preserver.  :J:  The  destroyer. 
»  God  of  fire.        t|  The  Sun.        H  The  Creator."  (p.  27.) 


I'ARTil.)  !■  OR  CllUISTl AN  MISSIONS.  271 

tir.it  in  gener.il  they  worship  the  Deity  thioui!;h  llie  medium  oi'im- 
aj^os;  and  wc  saliijfactorily  learn  from  the  Geeta,  that  it  is  not  the 
mere  imago,  but  the  invisible  Spirit  that  they  thus  worship."  (p. 
14. )  Anil  thus  from  Abull'azel:*  "  They  one  antl  all  believe  in  the 
unity  of  the  Godhead;  and  although  they  hold  images  in  high  ven- 
eration, yet  they  are  by  no  means  idolators,  as  the  ignorant  sup 
pose.  1  have  myself  tVecpienlly  discoursed  upon  the  subject  with 
many  learned  and  upright  men  of  this  religion,  and  comprehend 
their  doctrine;  which  is,  that  the  images  are  only  representations 
of  celestial  beings,  to  whom  they  turn  themselves  while  at  prayer 
to  prevent  their  thoughts  from  wandering:  and  they  think  it  an  in- 
dispensable duty  to  address  the  Deity  after  that  manner."  (p.  47.) 

If  this  reasoning  be  just,  there  never  were  any  idolators  upon 
earth;  for  what  is  said  of  the  Hindoos  applies  to  the  worshippers 
of  Baal,  and  of  all  other  heathen  deities.  But  to  call  this  worship- 
ping the  Deity  through  the  iiiediuin  of  images,  is  representing  them 
as  connected  with  Him,  when,  in  fact,  they  are  rivals  of  him  in  the 
hearts  of  his  creatures.  The  invisible  Spirit  to  which  their  devo- 
tions are  directed,  according  to  this  writer's  own  account,  is  Crish- 
NA;  (p.  'i5.)  who  is  not  God,  but  a  deified  creature  that  takes 
place  of  God;  a  daemon,  whose  character,  as  drawn  even  in  their 
own  shasters,  is  lewd  and  treacherous.  We  might  know  from 
these  their  records,  even  though  an  apostle  had  not  told  us,  that 
the  things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice,  they  sacrifice  to  pe.mons  anp 
NOT  TO  God. 

It  has  been  common  to  speak  of  the  Hindoos  as  acknowledging 
one  Supreme  Being,  but  as  worshipping  a  number  of  subordinate 
deities ;  and  I  may  have  used  this  language  as  well  as  others. 
The  terms  supreme  and  subordinate,  however,  do  not  appear  to 
be  happily  chosen.  They  might  as  well  be  applied  to  a  lawful 
sovereign  and  a  number  of  usurpers  who  had  set  up  the  standard 
of  rebellion  against  him.     Whatever  subordination  there  may  be 

♦Abulfazel  was  the  prime  minister  of  Ackbar,  one  of  the  Mogul  emperors  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  who,  perceiving  the  ill  effects  of  Mahomedan  persecu 
tion,  en.Ieavourcd  to  reconcile  the  different  religious  parlie.'?  in  the  empire, 
and  to  persu-idf;  that  of  tli«-  '"ourt  to  think  favorably  of  that  of  the  country. 


272  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  11. 

among  these  deities  with  respect  to  each  other,  they  are  all  oppo- 
sed to  the  true  God.  What  claims  can  He  have,  after  those  of 
Creeshna  are  satisfied,  who  calls  his  "  tife  supreme  nature,  which 
is  superior  to  all  things?'"'  (p.  45,)  Our  author  would  wish  him, 
no  doubt,  to  be  thought  an  attribute  of  the  true  God,  or,  as  he 
calls  him,  "  the  preserving  power  of  the  Divinity  ;"  but  this  he 
cannot  be,  for  his  character  is  immoral.  He  must,  therefore,  be  a 
rival,  taking  place  of  the  Divinity.  If  it  be  alleged,  that  he  is 
merely  an  imaginary  being,  and  therefore  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other;  I  answer,  while  he  claims  "a  supreme  nature,"  and  is 
worshipped  as  possessing  it,  though  he  be  nothing  in  himself,  yet 
he  is  something  to  the  worshippers,  and  answers  all  the  ends  of  a 
conscious  and  active  usurper  of  the  throne  of  God. 

After  this,  the  reader  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  of  "  repent 
ance,  devotion,  and  pious  austerities,"  as  the  means  of  expiating 
sin.  (pp.  29.  .36.)  We  cannot  wonder  at  such  notions  in  benight- 
ed Pagans  ;  but  that  a  writer,  who  has  read  the  New  Testament, 
should  think  of  alleging  them  as  recommendation  of  the  system  to 
the  favourable  regard  of  Christians,  is  a  proof  of  his  having  either 
never  understood  what  Christianity  is,  or  forgotten  it  amidst  the 
charms  of  idolatry.  As  to  what  these  "  devotions  and  austerities" 
are,  be  they  what  they  may,  when  considered  as  an  expiation  oj 
sin,  they  are  worse  than  nothing.  But  the  truth  is,  they  are  nei- 
ther aimed  to  propitiate  the  true  God,  nor  do  they  consist  of  any 
thing  which  he  requires  at  their  hands. 

Such  are  the  excellencies  of  the  Hindoo  system  ;  such  the  ar- 
guments which  the  Missionaries  are  challenged  to  answer ;  and 
such  the  faith  which  would  be  thought  to  erect  her  standard  by 
the  side  of  reason  !  Our  author,  after  enumerating  these  and 
other  glorious  principles,  asks,  with  an  air  of  triumph,  "  What 
is  it  that  the  Missionaries  propose  teaching  to  the  Hindoos  ?" 
What  is  it,  in  religious  concerns,  which  they  do  not  require  to  be 
taught. 

He  allows  there  are  "  many  reprehensible  customs  among  the 
Hindoos,  the  mere  offspring  of  superstition  ;"  but  he  contends 
that  "  they  are  not  enjoined  by  the  Vedas,  and  are  chiefly  con- 
fined to  certain  classes."  (p.   69.)     "  I   have  no  hesitation,"  he 


l>ARTtI.|  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  073 

says,  "  in  tieclarin::.  th.it  no  hnincli  whatever  oj  tlieir  inythologij^ 
so  far  as  1  understand  it,  appears,  to  merit,  in  l/te  smallest  degree, 
the  harsh  charges  of  cire  and  fahehnnd.'''  (p.  07.)  Yet,  (o  sny 
tiothini;  of  things  which  it  would  he  indecent  to  mention,  Dr. 
Buchanan  has  quoted  a  number  ol  authorities  from  their  sacred 
books  in  favour  of  the  hurnin;^  of  women,  and  in  which  such  vol- 
untary sacrifices  age  declared  not  to  he  suicide,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, highly  meritorious.*  And  the  Institutes  of  Menu  as  Sir  Wil- 
liam Jones  observes,  are  uoaccuuulahly  rehixed  in  regard  of  light 
oaths,  and  pious  perjury.  Hut  these  things,  and  a  hundred  more, 
stand  for  nothing  with  our  author,  whose  admiration  of  the  general 
system  leads  him  to  forget,  as  trifling,  all  such  imperfections. 
'•  Wherever  I  look  around  me,"  he  says,  "  in  the  vast  region  of 
Hindoo  mythology,  I  discover  piety  in  the  garb  of  allegory  :  and 
I  see  morality  at  everv  turn,  blended  with  every  tale  :  and  as  far 
as  I  can  rely  on  my  own  judgment,  it  Appears  the  most  complete 
and  ample  system  of  moral  allegory  that  the  world  has  ever  pro- 
duced !"   (p.  97.) 

How  shall  we  stand  against  this  tide  of  eloquence  ?  I  will  trans- 
cribe a  passage  from  Dr.  Tennant.  "  It  is  curious,"  says  he,  "  to 
observe  how  the  indifference,  or  rather  the  dislike,  of  some  old 
settlers  in  India,  is  expressed  against  the  systemof  their  forefathers. 
It  is  compared  with  the  Hindoo  Institutions  with  an  affectation  of 
impartiality,  while,  in  the  mean  time,  the  latter  system  is  extolled 
in  its  greatest  puerilities  and  follies  :  its  grossest  fables  are  always 
asserted  to  convey  some  hidden  but  sound  lessons  of  wisdom. 
They  inveigh  against  the  schisms,  disputes,  and  differences  of  the 
western  world,  ascribing  them  solely  to  their  religious  dogmata. 
They  palliate  the  most  fanatical  and  most  painful  of  the  Hindoo 
rites,  anil  never  fail  in  discovering  some  salutary  influence  which 
ihey  shed  upon  society.  Wrapt  up  in  devout  admiration  of  the 
beauty  and  sublimity  of  the  Vedas,  they  affect  to  triumph  in  their 
supposed  superiority  over  the  simplicity  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek 
»criptures.     This  affectation  is  the  mbro  ridiculous,  because  it  jri 

*  Memoir,  p.  9fi. 

Vor.  III.  35 


274  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  ll. 

indulged  hy  those  who  pretend  to  great  taste,  and  profound  knowl- 
edge of  Sanscrit  learning."* 

If  the  Doctor's  performance  had  not  been  written  before  that  of 
the  Bengal  Officer,  we  should  almost  have  supposed  he  meant  to 
draw  his  picture. 

This  author  may  suppose  that  a  system  so  good-natured  as  to 
concede  the  divinity  of  Christ,  (p.  50.)  might  be  expected  to  re- 
ceive some  concessions  in  return  :  but  he  had  better  not  attempt 
a  compromise,  for  the  systems  cnnnot  agree.  If  he  be  a  heathen, 
let  him  cast  in  his  lot  with  heathens.  Let  him,  if  he  should  get 
intoxicated,  attend  to  the  recipe  of  his  "divine  Menu  ;"  let  him 
in  order  "  to  atone  for  his  offence,  drink  more  spirit  in  flame  till 
he  severely  burn  his  body  ;  or  let  him  drink,  boiling  hot,  until  he 
die,  the  urine  of  a  cow,  or  pure  water,  or  milk,  or  clarified  but- 
ter, or  juice  expressed  from  cow-dung."  (p.  41.)  Let  him,  if  he 
should  be  vicious,  expect  to  become  a  dog,  or  a  cat,  or  some  more 
despicable  creature  ;  or,  if  he  be  virtuous,  let  him  hope  for  his 
reward  in  the  favour  of  Crishna.  (p.  46.)  But  we  are  Christians, 
and  have  learned  another  lesson.  We  have  been  taught  to  revere 
the  authority  of  Him  who  hath  said.  Thou  shall  have  no  other  gods 
before  me.  Thou  shall  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any 
likeness  of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth 
beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth :  thou  shall  not  bow 
down  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them :  for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a 
jealous  God. 

Of  the  Moral  Character  of  the  Hindoos. 

This  is  a  subject  of  great  importance  in  the  present  controver- 
sy ;  for  if  Hindooism  produce  as  good  fruits  as  Christianity,  the 
necessity  of  attempting  the  conversion  of  its  votaries,  must,  in  a 
great  degree,  if  not  entirely,  be  set  a*ide.  It  is  a  subject  too  in 
which  our  author  has  the  advantage  of  us,  as  it  must  be  more 
agreeable  to  the  public  mind  to  think  favourably  than  unfavour- 
ably of  a  great  people  who  form  now  a  component  part  of  the  em- 
pire. Nothing  but  truth,  and  a  desire  to  do  them  good,  can  jus- 
tify us  in  disputing  these  favourable  accounts. 

*  Thoughts  on  the  British  Government  in  India,  p-  141.    Note. 


Tart  II. |  KOIl  CHIUSTIAN  MISSIONS.  073 

Considering^  the  importance  of  llie  subject,  ;»nd  the  weight  of 
testimony  which  our  author  must  be  aware  he  had  to  encounter 
\vc  may  suppose  he  has  brought  torward  all  the  proof  of  which 
lie  is  capable.  That  the  reader  may  be  able  to  judge  on  the  sub- 
ject, 1  will  tirst  state  the  substance  of  the  evidence  on  the  other 
side,  and  then  inquire  what  this  writer  has  done  towards  over- 
turning it. 

I  liave  already  mentioned  three  or  lour  testimonies,  in  my  Let- 
ter to  the  chairman  of  the  I'a-t  India  Company.*  These  1  shall 
not  repeat. 

Tamerlane  the  Great,  when  about  to  die,  thus  addressed  his  sons 
and  statesmen  :  *'  Know,  my  dear  children,  and  elevated  statesmen, 
(hat  the  inhabitants  of  llindoslaii  cultivates  imposture,  fraud,  and 
lieceplion,  and  considers  them  to  be  meritorious  accomplishments. 
Should  any  person  entrust  to  them  the  care  of  his  property,  that 
person  will  soon  become  only  the  nominal  possesser  of  it." 

"  The  tendency  of  this  my  mandate  to  you,  statesmen,  is  to 
preclude  a  contidence  in  their  actions,  or  an  adoption  of  their 
advice. 't 

"  At  Benares,"  adcs  Dr.  P»uchanan,  "  the  fountain  of  Hindoo 
learning  and  religion,  where  Captain  VVilford,  author  of  the  essays 
on  the  Indian  and  Egyptian  mythology,  has  long  resided  in  the  so- 
ciety of  the  brahmans,  a  scene  has  been  lately  exhibited  which 
certainly  has  never  had  a  parallel  in  any  other  learned  society  in 
the  world. 

''  The  pundit  of  Captain  Wilford  having  for  a  considerable  time 
been  guilty  of  interpolating  his  books,  and  of  fabricating  new  sen- 
tences in  old  works,  to  answer  a  particular  pur|tose,  was  at  length 
detected  and  publicly  disgraced.  As  a  last  eflort  to  save  his  char- 
acter, '  he  brought  ten  brahmans,  not  only  as  his  compurgators, 
but  to  swear,  by  what  is  most  sacred  in  their  religion,  to  the  gen- 

*  See  Part  I.  pp.  209,210  of  this  volume. 

r  Dr.  Bucliauan's  Memoir,  pp.  113,  111.  "  Marquis  Comwaliis  wus  nev- 
er known,  during  iiis  administration  in  Iiidi.T,  to  admit  a  native  lo  hia  con- 
tldence.  Under  the  admioi-tration  of  Mnrqnii  Wellnslpy  there  i«  a  total  ex- 
clusion of  rraf  ivr  coiin'pl."" 


276  A  [V  APOLOGY  [PartK. 

uineness  ofthe  extr.icts.'*  Captain  Wilford  would  not  permit  the 
ceremonial  of  perjury  to  take  place,  but  dismissed  them  from  his 
presence  with  indignation." 

Dr.  Tennant,  late  chaplain  to  his  Majcsty^s  troops  in  Bengal., 
has  written  very  explicitly  on  the  subject,  not  only  stating  facts, 
but  pointing  out  their  connexion  with  the  system.  As  his  testimo- 
ny includes  the  opinions  of  Sir  James  M'Intosh,  Sir  William  Jones 
and  some  other  very  respectable  authorities,  and  as  he  himself 
cannot  be  accused  of  any  strong  predilection  for  missions,  I  shall 
transcribe  a  few  pages  from  his  account. 

"  The  native  character,"  he  says,  •'  however  amiable  in  some 
respects  it  may  appear,  is  frequently  stained  with  vices  directly 
hostile  to  society.  The  crime  of  pERjuRY,/roffj  the  great  defects 
of  their  religious  si/stem,  is  remarkably  prevalent,  and  in  many  in- 
stances renders  the  execution  of  justice  difficult  and  impossible. 

"  The  prevalence  of  this  vice,"  says  Sir  James  M'Intosh, 
"  which  1  have  myself  observed,  is,  perhaps,  a  more  certain  cri- 
terion of  a  general  dissolution  of  moral  principle,  than  other  more 
daring  and  ferocious  crimes,  much  more  terrible  to  the  imagina^ 
tion,  and  of  which  the  immediate  consequences  are  more  destruc- 
tive to  society."  "  Perjury,"  adds  Dr.  Tennant,  "indicates  the 
absence  of  all  the  common  restraints  by  which  men  are  withheld 
from  the  commission  of  crimes.  It  is  an  attack  upon  religion  and 
law  in  the  ver^'  point  of  their  union  for  the  protection  of  human 
society.  It  weakens  the  foundation  of  every  right  by  rendering 
the  execution  of  justice  unattainable. 

"  Sir  William  Jones,"  continues  he,  "  after  long  judicial  expe- 
rience, was  obliged,  reluctantly,  to  acknowledge  this  moral  depravi- 
ty of  the  natives  of  India.  He  had  carried  out  with  him  to  that 
country  a  strong  prejudice  in  their  favour,  which  he  had  imbibed 
in  the  course  of  his  studies  ;  and  which  in  him  was  perhaps  nei- 
ther unamiablc,  nor  ungrateful.  This  prejudice  he  could  not  lon- 
ger retain  against  the  universal  testimony  of  Europeans,  and  the 
enormous  examples  of  depravity  among  the  natives,  which  he 
often  witnessed  in  his  judicial  capacity."! 

*  Asiatic  Researches,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  28. 

t  Thoughts  on  the  British  Government  in  ludia^  pp.  54.  77. 


I'Aki  ll.|  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  077 

Again  :  Having  ticscnbcd  tJie  state  of  the  country  previously  to 
it<t  tailing  into  hands  of  the  British,  Dr.  Tennant  say$,  ''  thus  with- 
in the  short  space  of  a  man's  life,  and  almost  in  our  own  remem- 
brance, the  empire  of  India  fell  into  anarchy  and  ruin  ;  not 
from  the  external  violence  of  foreign  enemies,  but  from  the  in- 
rcieracy  and  extent  of  corruption  which  pervaded  the  whole  of  its 
members. ''* 

Again  :  "  The  boasted  humanity  ot  the  Hindoo  system,  to  all 
sentient  being,  is  but  ill  supported,  when  we  come  to  a  close  ex- 
amination of  the  customs  which  it  tolerates,  the  precepts  which  it 
enjoins,  or  the  actual  conduct  of  its  votaries.  Though  it  be  »d-j 
mitted  that  some  of  the  above  horrid  customs  are  a  violation  ol" 
their  written  code,  yet  there  are  other  practices  equally  shocking, 
to  which  it  aflfords  its  immediate  sanction.  The  public  encour- 
agement held  out  to  aged  pilgrims  who  drown  themselves  in  the 
Ganges,  under  the  notion  of  acquiring  religious  merit,  is  equally 
repugnant  with  the  practice  already  noticed,  to  reason  and  human- 
ity. No  less  than  four  or  five  persons  have  been  seen  drowning 
themselve:^  at  one  time,  with  the  view  of  performing  a  religious 
sacrifice,  of  high  value  in  their  own  estimation,  and  that  of  many 
thousands  who  attend  this  frightful  solemnity.  The  recommen- 
dation given  to  a  favourite  wife  to  burn  herself  on  the  same  funeral 
pile  with  the  dead  body  of  her  husband,  aflbrds  not  ao  unfrequent- 
ed spectacle  of  deliberate  cruelty,  which  cannot,  perhaps  be  equal- 
led in  the  whole  annals  of  superstition. 

•'  The  cruel  treatment  of  the  sick,  the  aged,  and  the  dying,  it 
not  a  precept,  is  a  practical  result  of  this  degrading  system, 
f.ir  more  universal  than  any  of  those  already  mentioned:  it  is  of 
a  nature  which  the  most  moderate  share  of  humanity  would  prompt 
any  person  to  use  very  zealous  efforts  to  remedy.  As  soon  as  any 
mortal  symptoms  are  discovered  in  the  state  of  a  patient  by  his 
physician,  or  by  his  relations,  he  is,  if  in  Bengal,  removed  from 
his  bed,  and  carried  to  the  brink  of  the  Ganges,  where  he  is  laid 
down  with  his  feet  and  legs  imrnerserl  in  the  river  :  there,  instead 
of  receiving  from  hi«  friend?  any  of  the  lender  consolations  ofsym- 

'   Thou'-hts  on  the  Britiih  Government  in  InJia,  pp.  54,  57. 


278  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  II 

pathy,  to  alleviate  the  pain  of  his  departing  moments,  his  mouth, 
nose,  and  ears,  are  stuffed  with  clay,  or  wet  sand,  while  the  by- 
standers crowd  close  around  him,  and  incessantly  pour  torrents  of 
water  upon  his  head  and  body.  It  is  thus,  amidst  the  convulsive 
struggles  of  sufl'ocation,  added  to  the  agony  of  disease,  that  the 
wretched  Hindoo  bids  farewelto  his  present  existence,  and  finally 
closes  his  eyes  upon  the  sufferings  of  life. 

"  But  waving  these  particular  usages,  some  of  which  are,  per- 
haps, abuses  which  have  sprung  out  of  their  primitive  institutions, 
it  may  be  contended,  on  good  grounds,  that  the  general  spirit  of 
,the  system  has   itself  a  tendency,  in  many  instances,  to  promote 
ignorance  and  encourage  vice. 

"  In  the  Historical  Fragments  of  the  Mogul  Empire,  Mr.  Orme 
has  presented  the  public  with  a  laborious  and  detailed  exposition 
of  all  those  defects  of  the  Hindoo  system.  The  author  in  this 
work,  conveys  no  very  favourable  impression  of  the  Indian  char- 
acter ;  but  his  ideas  are  the  result  of  personal  observation  :  they 
are  clear,  forcible,  and  correct.  Towards  the  close  of  this  inter- 
esting disquisition,  he  thus  sums  up  the  general  impression  which 
the  subject  left  upon  his  mind.  *  Having  brought  to  a  conclusion 
this  Essay  on  the  Government  and  People  of  Hindostan,  I  cannot 
refrain  from  making  the  reflections  which  so  obviously  arise  from 
the  subject.  Christianity  vindicates  all  its  glories,  all  its  honours, 
and  all  its  reverence,  when  we  behold  the  most  horrid  impieties 
avowed  amongst  the  nations  on  whom  its  intluence  does  not  shine. 
us  actions  necessary  in  the  common  conduct  of  life  :  1  mean  poi- 
sonings, treachery,  and  assassination,  among  the  sons  of  ambition  ; 
rapine,  cruelty,  and  extortion  in  the  ministers  of  justice. — I  leave 
Divines  to  vindicate,  by  more  sanctified  retlections,  the  cause  of 
their  religion  and  of  their  God.' — 

•'  The  Hindoo  system  makes  little  or  no  provision  for  the  in* 
struction  of  the  great  body  of  the  peoitle  :  a  defect  the  more  re- 
markable, when  we  advert  to  the  number  and  authority  of  his 
priesthood,  and  the  great  multiplicity  and  size  of  its  sacred  vol- 
umes. Their  Vedas,  Poorans,  and  o'.her  books  held  sacred,  con- 
tain, it  is  said,  a  copious  system  of  sound  morality  ;  and  from  the 
specimens  already  translated,  this  must  be  partly  admitted  ;  but 


i'ARrll.]  1  OR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 


279 


the  truths  contained  in  lhc!«e  writinj^s  are  almost  totailv  obscured 
and  rcmiered  useless  by  a  vast  mixture  of  puerile  Jii  turns  and  friv- 
olous rcgulntious.  And  besides,  the  ranonical  books  of  the  Hin- 
doos have  always  been  regarded  as  a  bequest  too  sacred  to  be 
committed  to  vul;;ar  hands:  to  the  far  greater  part  of  the  commu- 
nity, their  perusal  is  strictly  forbidden  :  closely  gnarded  in  the  ar- 
chives of  the  learned,  to  the  the  great  body  of  the  people  they  re- 
main, in  the  most  emphatic  sense, '  a  dead  letter.' 

•'  Of  the  ceremonies  of  brahmanism,  some  are  shewy,  many  are 
absurd,  and  not  a  fe\v  hnth  indecent  aiud immoral.  Its  temples  were 
formerly  in  some  districts  richly  endowed  ;  they  are  represented 
by  all  travellers  as  maintaining  n  number  of  priests,  and  what  seems 
peculiar,  a  number  of  women  consecrated  to  this  service,  who  are 
taught  to  sing  and  dance  at  j)ublic  I'estivaN  in  honour  of  the  gods. 
The  voluptuous  indolence  in  which  they  are  destined  to  spend 
their  lives,  renders  them  totally  useless  to  society  ;  while  the  in- 
decency of  their  manners  gives  room  to  suspect  that  they  may  mjure 
It  by  their  example. 

'*  The  temples  themselves,  which  in  other  countries  exrite  sen- 
timents of  reverence  and  devotion,  are  in  India  plcnished  with  im- 
ages of  fecundity ,  and  of  creative  power,Too  gross  for  description. 
Similar  representations  are  also  displayed  by  those  images  which, 
at  certain  times,  are  drawn  through  the  streets  amidst  the  dancing, 
noise,  and  acclamations  of  the  multitude.  The  Ruth  Jatra,  or  ri- 
ding of  the  gods,  is  a  ceremony  at  once  cruel  and  indecent.  The 
carriages  on  which  their  deities  are  then  placed,  are  of  immense 
height,  and  supported  on  sixteen  wheels  ;  the  whole  drawn  along 
by  tliou«ands  of  fanatics  some  of  whom  fall  down  before  these 
wheels,  and  being  instantly  crushed,  are,  as  they  believe,  put  in 
(lossessions  of  immortal  bliss. 

"  It  would  be,  perhaps,  rash,  after  all,  to  atlirrn  that  the  Hindoos 
.ire  in)moraI  and  depraved  in  a  degree  proportioned  to  the  melan- 
rholif  extent  of  their  superstitious  system,  though  their  minds  are 
strongly  withdrawn  by  it  from  feeling  the  due  weight  of  moral  ob- 
ligations. Those  [however]  who  are  concerned  in  the  police, 
know  well  the  frequency  of  fraud,  robbery,  and  murder,  as  well  as 
the  great  number  of  delinquents  which  have  always  rendered  the 


280  AN  ArOLOGY  [Part  II. 

prisons  more  crowiled  than  any  other  habitations  in  Iniha.  It  has 
not  been  from  them,  nor  indeed  from  any  class  of  men  intimately 
acquainted  with  their  manners,  that  the  Hindoo  character  has  re- 
ceived so  many  encomiums  for  its  innocence  and  simplicity." 

Speaking  of  their  wandering  religious  devotees,  he  says,  "Mr. 
Richardson,  author  of  the  Persian  and  Arabic  Dictionary,  has  char- 
acterized these  vagrants,  under  the  article  Fakeer,  in  the  following 
manner: — "  In  this  singular  class  of  men,  who  in  Hindostan  des- 
pise every  sort  of  clothing,  there  are  a  number  of  enthusiasts, 
but  a  far  greater  proportion  of  knaves;  every  vagabond,  who  has 
an  aversion  to  labour,  being  received  into  a  fraternity  which  is 
regulated  by  laws  of  a  secret  and  uncommon  nature.  The  Hindoos 
view  them  with  a  wonderful  respect,  not  only  on  account  of  their 
sanctified  reputation,  but  from  a  substantial  dread  of  their  power. 
The  Fakeer  pilgrimages  often  consist  of  many  thousands  of  naked 
saints,  who  exact,  wherever  they  pass,  a  general  tribute;  while 
their  character  is  too  sacred  for  th^  civil  power  to  take  cognizance 
of  their  conduct."* 

Many  other  testimonies  might  be  produced.  If  the  reader  wishes 
to  see  them  systematically  stated,  he  may  find  much  to  his  purpose 
in  Cunninghaine's  Christianity  in  India.  Chap.  H. 

We  have  now  to  examine  what  our  author  has  advanced  on  the 
other  side.  Has  he  attempted  to  weaken  this  body  of  evidence, 
or  to  overcome  it  by  testimonies  more  numerous  or  more  credi- 
ble ?  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  He  takes  no  notice  of  any 
thing  that  has  been  said  by  others;  not  even  by  Dr.  Buchanan, 
though  he  was  professedly  answering  his  Memoir.  And  as  to  the 
testimonies  which  he  produces,  lo,  they  are  two viz.  him- 
self and  Abulfazel ! 

From  his  own  knowledge  he  writes  many  things.  He  resided 
in  India  many  years;  has  been  much  acquainted  with  the  people; 
has  gone  into  their  temples,  and  never  saw  any  thing  indecent  in 
them;  has  entrusted  money  and  liquors  to  a  great  amount  in  the 

hands  of  Hindoo  servants,  and  never  found  them  unfaithful 

but  stop:  we  know  not  who  this  witness   is:  we  cannot  admit  ot 

*  Thoughts  on  the  British  Government  in  hidia,  ')  IX.  X. 


Tart  II. J  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  231 

anont/MOUs  testimony.  No  man,  while  lio  willihoUls  liis  ir.xmp 
from  the  puhlic,  has  a  ri<;ht  to  expect  credit,  niiy  fiithei  lli;ui  wIkii 
ho  .T(lv;»nces  may  rccotniiiend  itself.  I  must  taki;  leave,  thcrcl'ure, 
to  set  down  all  tiiat  he  has  related  from  his  own  knovvlcdj^e  as  nu- 
gatory. 

Let  us  examine  the  next  witness.  Aluilfizel  might  be  a  great 
and  enlightened  statesmen,  ami  might  be  aware  that  the  persecu- 
tions carried  on  against  the  Hindoos  in  the  precctiing  reigns,  were 
impolitic  as  well  as  cruel.  He  might  wi-^h  to  praise  them  into  at- 
tachment, and  to  soften  the  antipatliies  of  the  Mahometans  against 
them.  Hence  he  might  endeavor  to  persuade  the  latter  that  the 
former  were  "  not  idolaters,''  but,  like  themselves,  "  believers  in 
one  God,  and  withal  a  very  amiable  and  good  sort  of  people.  But 
whatever  proof  this  may  aflbrd  of  Abulfazel's  talents  for  govern- 
jng,  the  truth  of  his  statements  requires  to  be  confirmed  by  more 
disinterested  testimony;  and  where  the  whole  current  oi'  Euro- 
pean experience  is  against  it,  it  can  be  of  no  account. 

The  reader  will  draw  the  inference,  that  the  evidence  of  Hin- 
doo depravity  is  not  weakened,  in  the  least  degree,  by  any  thing 
this  writer  has  advanced. 

Of  the  Conduct  of  the  Missio7iaiies,  and  the  Native  Christians. 

On  this  part  of  the  subject  our  author  is  less  profuse  than  his 
predecessor.  There  are  a  few  passages  in  his  performance,  how- 
ever, which  require  notice.  He  says,  "  If  the  conduct  of  the  Mis- 
sionaries has  here  so  unwisely  forced  it^selfonthe  attention  of  the 
public;  and  thus  rendered  them  obnoxious  to  the  dis[>leasure  of  our 
Government  in  the  East;  in  having,  unsanctioned  by  its  authority, 
assumed  the  dangerous  province  of  attempting  to  regulate  the  con- 
sciences of  its  native  subjects;  to  the  manifest  tendency  of  disturb- 
ing that  repose  and  public  confidence  that  forms  at  this  moment 
the  chief  security  of  our  precarious  tenure  in  Hindostan:  if  men, 
thus  labouring  for  subsistence  in  their  vocation,  and  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  making  converts,  at  any  rate,  in  order  to  ensure  the 
continuance  of  their  allowances;  and  the  permanency  of  their  Mis- 
sion, rashly  venture   to  hurl  the  bigot  anathema  of  intolerance  at 

Vol.  mi.  36 


322  AN  APOLOGY  [I'art  II. 

the  head  of  the  '  barbarian  Hindoos,'  ;ind  unadvisedly  to  vilify  the 
revered  repositories  of  their  faith,  we  may  find  some  colour  of  ex- 
cuse in  the  seeming  necessity  under  which  they  act;  but  that  a 
member  of  the  English  Church,"  &c.  (pp.  3,  4.) 

On  this  tedious  sentence,  or  rather,  part  of  a  sentence,  I  would 
offer  a  few  remarks.  1.  If  the  conduct  of  the  Missionaries  has 
been  forced  on  the  attention  of  the  public,  it  is  their  adversaries 
that  have  forced  it.  Nothing  has  been  done,  by  them,  or  their 
friends,  but  in  self-defence.  2.  I  do  not  understand  how  the  pri- 
vate request  of  the  Governor-General  for  Mr.  Carey  and  his  col- 
leagues, at  a  certain  critical  period,  to  desist  from  preaching  to  the 
natives,  can  be  attributed  to  displeasure,  when  the  acting  magis- 
trates who  delivered  the  message  acknowledged  that  "  they  were 
well  satisfied  with  the  character  and  deportment  of  the  Missiona- 
ries, and  that  no  complaints  had  ever  been  lodged  against  them." 

3.  If,  at  the  first  outset,  their  undertaking  was  not  sanctioned  by 
authority,  and  if  on  that  account  they  settled  in  the  Danish  terri- 
tory; yet  Government,  having  known  them,  and  being  satisfied 
that  they  acted  not  from  contumacy,  but  from  the  most  pure,  up- 
right, and  peaceable  principles,  has  always  been  friendly  to  them. 
Under  the  administration  of  Marquis  Wellesley,  they  lived  secure. 

4.  There  never  was  an  idea  of  their  labours  disturbing  the  confi- 
dence which  the  natives  place  in  the  British  Government,  till  Eu- 
ropean adversaries  suggested  it.  5.  The  Missionary  labour  of 
the  men  referred  to,  is  not  for  their  own  subsistence;  nor  do  they 
subsist  by  "  .allowances"  from  England.  At  all  times  this  has  not 
been  the  case;  but,  at  present,  the  remittances  sent  from  this  coun- 
try are  for  another  use.  It  is  by  their  own  literary  labours  that 
they  subsist,  which  not  only  supply  their  wants,  but  enable  them 
to  devote  a  surplus  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel.  Did  they 
act  from  mercenary  motives,  they  might  lay  by  their  thousands, 
and  return,  as  well  as  their  accusers,  in  affluence  to  their  native 
country.  6.  If  "  the  bigot  anathema  of  intolerance,"  which  this 
writer  endeavours  to  hurl  at  the  Missionaries,  hurt  them  no  more 
than  theirs  does  the  Hindoos,  there  is  no  cause  for  alarm.  But 
who  could  have  imagined  that  an  address  to  the  conscience  could 
have  been  represented  as  "assuming  to  regulate  it;"  and  that  a 


hAKTlI.I  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  283 

wntiT  nith  the  cant  of  toleration  in  his  mouth,  could  advoc.ite  the 
cause  of  intoleraocc ! 

This  author  tells  us  of  '' :»  circumstnnce  havino;  recently  come 
to  his  knowledge,  that  exhibits  proof  superior  to  a  hundred  argu- 
ments, of  the  impropriety  and  dangerous  consequences  of  injudi- 
cious interference  with  the  Hindoos,  on  the  score  of  their  religion." 
(p.  64.)  This  "  circumstance''  must  surely,  then,  be  of  impor- 
tance, especially  at  a  time  when  arguments  are  so  scarce.  And 
what  is  it  ?  A  native  of  Calcutta  had  lost  cast;  he  went  to  one  of 
the  Missionaries,  and  was  immediately  baptized;  soon  after  this, 
he  became  a  preacher;  in  addressing  his  countrymen,  he  provoked 
their  resentment;  and,  after  being  assaulted  with  clods  and  brick- 
bats, narrowly  escaped  witli  his  life,  hai  here  I  must  again  take 
the  liberty  of  reminding  the  gentleman,  that  he  is  out  of  his  prov- 
ince. An  anonrjinoui  writer  has  no  business  to  obtrude  himself  as 
a  ti'jf;jes«,  but  merely  as  a  reasoner. 

I  know  the  first  part  of  this  story  to  be  a  fabrication,  and  I  sus- 
pect the  whole  to  be  one:  but  whether  any  part  of  it  be  true  or 
not,  it  makes  nothing  for  his  argument,  fie  might  with  equal  jus- 
tice accuse  the  Missionaries  of  having  been  assaulted  by  him,  and 
his  friend  the  Major,  with  a  volley  of  foul  abuse. 

All  our  opponents  declaim  ou  the  danger  of  tolerating  Missiona- 
ries, and  urge  the  necessity  of  an  immediate  suppression  of  their 
labours.  Yet  I  cannot  learn  that  the  Hindoos,  as  a  body,  are  an 
intolerant  jieople.  There  may  be,  and  doubtless  are,  exceptions; 
but  in  general,  I  have  always  understood,  that  in  this  respect  they 
differ  widely  from  the  Mahometans.  And  if  this  be  true,  how  can 
they  be  offended  with  Government  for  being  of  the  same  mind  ? 
\Vere  they  themselves  an  intolerant  people,  it  might  be  expected 
that  a  government,  to  be  acceptable  to  them,  must  not  only  protect 
them  in  the  exercise  of  their  own  religion,  but  persecute  all  who 
might  endeavour  to  convince  or  persuade  them  to  relinquish  it. 
Such  is  exactly  the  line  of  conduct  which  our  opponents  mark  out 
for  the  British  Government  in  India:  but  the  Hindoos  appear  to 
desire  no  such  thing;  and  if  they  did,  who  does  not  perceive  that  it 
would  be  mean  and  degrading  for  any  government  in  this  manner 
to  render  itself  the  instruniPnt  of  their   intolerance  ?     Whether. 


284  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.        [Part  11, 

therefore,  these  men,  in  urging  such  advice  on  the  different  de- 
partments of  the  British  Government,  consult  their  honour,  or 
their  own  inclination,  let  those  high  authorities  decide. 

Such  is  the  modesty  of  this  writer,  that  he  allows,  "  It  would 
not  per-haps  become  him  to  assume  the  province  of  dictating  the 
means  of  suppressing  these  Missionaries;"  but  he  makes  no  scru- 
ple of  asserting  that  "the  Government  in  India  stands  pledged  to 
the  Honourable  Company,  and  to  the  empire  at  large,  by  every 
sense  of  imperious  duty,  and  by  every  consideration  of  safety  to 
our  countrymen  abroad,  by  the  most  prompt  and  decisive  interpo- 
sition of  their  authority"  to  suppress  them.  He  is  also  so  good  a.s 
to  inform  the  government  with  what  facility  it  may  be  effected,  in- 
asmuch as  the  Danish  settlement  of  Serampore  is  now  [probably] 
under  our  immediate  control,  (p.  170.) 

If  Government,  whether  in  England  or  in  India,  be  of  opinion 
that  the  accusers  of  these  Missionaries  have  substantiated  their 
charges  against  them,  they  can  be  at  no  loss  for  the  means  of  sup- 
pressing them:  but  if  they  should  think  it  right  to  wait  for  better 
evidence  than  has  yet  appeared,  I  hope  they  may  stand  acquitted 
of  violating  their  pledge  either  to  the  Honourable  Company,  or  to 
the  empire  at  large. 


AN 

APOLOGY 

FOR    THE   LATK 

CflRISTrAN  MISSIONS  TO   INDIA; 


PART    THE  THIRD. 


CONTAINIVG 


TRICTURES  ON  MAJOR  SCOTT  WARING'S   THIRD 
PAMPHLET : 


f.ETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BOARD 
OF  CONTROL : 

AND    ON    THE 

J'ROPRIETY   OF   CONFINING  MISSIONARY   UNDERTA 

KINGS  TO  THE  ESTABLISHED  CHURCH  IN 

ANSWER  TO  DR.  BARROW  : 

WITH    AS 

APPENDIX, 

ATTESTING  THE  VERACITY  OF  THE  MISSIONARIES- 


All  power  is  givea  unlo  nae  in  heaveu  and  ia  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and 
teach  all  natious,  baptising  them  iu  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commmanded  you,  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 
A  men. 

Jes0s  Christ. 


PREFACE, 


It  appears  to  be  the  design  of  Providence,  by  a  succession  ot 
events,  to  effect  a  more  marked  distinction  between  tlie  friends 
and  enemies  of  religion  than  has,  of  late  years,  subsisted.  Through 
n  variety  of  causes  they  have  long  been  confounded.  As  though 
there  were  no  standard  for  either  side  to  repair  to,  they  have  each 
mingled  with  the  other  in  a  sort  of  promiscuous  mass. 

The  effect  of  this  junction  has  been  more  unfavourable  to  the 
cause  of  Christ,  than  to  that  of  his  adversaries:  for  as  holy  things 
would  not  communicate  holiness,  but  unclean  things  would  com- 
municate uncleanliness  ;*  so  it  has  been  in  respect  to  these  com- 
mixtures. Ungodly  men  who  have  had  to  do  with  holy  things,  have 
not  thereby  become  holy  ;  but  godly  men,  who  have  had  to  do  with 
unclean  things,  have  thereby  become  unclean.  Hence  it  appears 
to  be  the  will  of  God,  by  his  inscrutable  providence,  to  effect  a 
closer  union  among  Christians,  and  a  more  marked  separation  be- 
tween them  and  their  adversaries.  As  though  some  decisive  con 
tiict  were  about  to  take  place,  the  hosts  on  each  side  of  them  seem 
to  be  mustering  for  the  battle. 

The  French  Revolution  (that  mighty  shaking  of  the  church  and 
of  the  world)  has  been  productive  of  this  among  other  effects. 
(Jreat  numbers,  vho  had  before  passed  as  Christians,  perceiving 
'nfidolity  to   be   coming   into   fashion,   avowed    their    unbclief.t 

♦  Hag:g;ai  ii.  12,  13. 

t  Many  of  the?e,  however,  when  the  rage  of  f-ronrh  principles  began  to 
abate,  perceiving  thai  they  had  mistaken  the  roaii  to  preferment,  turnetl 
-^bouf.  and  assumcUo  be  the  patrons  of  rational  and  orthodox  Christianity. 


288  PREFACE. 

Christians,  on  the  other  hand,  of  different  denominations,  felt  a 
new  motive  to  unite  in  defenceof  the  common  faith  in  which  they 
were  agi'eed. 

The  same  effect  has  been  produced  by  the  sending  out  of  mis- 
sions to  the  heathen.  The  effort  itself  excited  a  correspondence  of 
feeling,  a  communication  of  sentiment,  and  a  unity  of  action, 
and  that  to  a  great  extent :  and  now  that  success  has,  in  some  meas- 
ure, attended  it,  it  has  drawn  against  it  a  host  of  adversaries.  As 
the  assembling  of  Israel  before  the  Lord  in  Mizeph,*  though  they 
had  neither  sword  nor  spear  among  them,  excited  the  jealousy  of 
the  Philistines,  and  drew  forth  their  armies  in  the  hope  of  crush- 
ing them  at  the  outset,  so  it  is  at  this  day.  It  is  remarkable  what  a 
tendency  the  genuine  exercises  of  true  religion  have  to  manifest 
the  principles  of  men,  and  to  draw  them  into  a  union,  either  on  the 
side  of  Christ,  or  on  that  of  his  adversaries.  You  may  now  perceive 
Deists,  Socinians,  and  others  who  retain  the  form  of  Christianity 
but  deny  the  power,  naturally  falling  into  their  ranks  on  one  side, 
and  serious  Christians,  almost  forgetting  their  former  differences; 
as  natui'ally  uniting  on  the  other.  I  question  whether  there  ever 
was  a  controversy,  since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  in  which 
religion  and  irreligion  were  more  clearly  marked,  and  their  respec- 
tive adherents  more  distinctly  organized. 

But  is  it  Christianity  that  they  attack  ?  O  no  !  It  is  Methodism, 
Calvinism,  fanaticism,  or  sectarianism,  &c.  And  is  it  a  new  thing 
for  the  adversaries  of  religion  to  attack  it  under  other  names  ? 
Was  it  ever  known  that  they  did  otherwise  ?  The  apostle  Paul 
was  not  accused  as  a  zealous  promoter  af  the  true  religion,  but  as  a 
pestilent  fellow,  a  mover  of  sedition,  and  a  ringleader  of  an  obnox- 
ious sect.  Unless  we  wish  to  be  imposed  upon  by  names  instead 
of  things,  we  can  be  at  no  loss  to  perceive  that  the  prime  object  of 
their  attack  is,  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament. 

Among  those  who  contribute  their  aid  in  this  important  struggle, 
we  shall  find  the  Edinburgh  Reviewers  just  now  coming  forward, 
jt  is  one  of  the   professed  objects  of  these  Editors  to   "  use  their 

•'■'■■  1  Sam,  vii. 


-PartIII.I  for  ClIlUslIAN  missions.  2Q9 

feeble  endeavours  in  ajsis^tinj;  the  public  jud^^ment  on  those 
topics  to  which  its  attention  was  actually  ilirecled."  The  ailack 
on  missions  is  preceded  by  one  on  mcthodisin ;  *  for  it  would 
have  been  imprudent  to  have  fallen  abruptly  upon  the  subject. 
Under  this  general  term,  the  Reviewer  professes  to  include,  in 
one  undistinguished  mass,  "  the  sentiments  of  the  Arminian  and 
Calvinistic  Methodists,  and  of  the  evangelical  Clergymen  of  the 
Church  of  Kugland  !''  These  he  describes  as  throe  classes  ol 
fanatics,  very  good  subji'cis  indeed,  but  "engaged  in  one  gen- 
eral conspiracy  against  common  sense  and  rational  orthodox  Chris- 
tianity  /" 

These  fanatics  are  denounced  as  maintaining  "  the  absurd  no- 
tions of  a  universal  providence,  extending  not  only  to  the  rise  and 
fall  of  nation.s,  but  to  the  concerns  of  individuals  ;  the  insufficiency 
of  baptism,  and  of  a  participation  in  the  customary  worship  of  the 
country,  without  the  regeneratini;  grace  of  the  Holy  Sjiirit.  to  de- 
nominate men  Christians  ;"  and  \vhat  is  worse,  it  seems,  as  "  mak 
mg  a  marked  and  dang'Mous  division  of  mankind  into  the  godlij  and 
the  tiiigodly  '.  " 

The  party  seems  to  be  extending  too  ;  and  where  it  will  end 
the  Reviewer  cannot  tell,  nor  whether  the  evil  admitsof  any  cure. 
"  All  mines  and  subterraneous  places  belong  to  them  ;  they  creep 
mto  hospitals,  and  small  schools,  and  so  work  their  way  upwards. 
They  beg  all  the  little  livings,  particularly  in  the  north  of  England, 
from  the  ministers  for  the  time  being;  and  from  these  fixed  points 
they  make  incursions  upon  the  happiness  and  common  sense  of  the 
vicinage-"  The  Reviewer  "  most  sincerely  deprecates  such  an 
event  ;  but  it  will  excite  in  him  no  manner  of  surprise,  if  a  period 
arrives  when  the  churches  of  the  sober  and  orthodox  part  of  the 
English  Clergy  are  com[detely  deserted  by  tlu'  middling  and  low- 
er classes  of  the  community."  They  have  not  only  made  "  an 
alarming  inroad  into  the  church,"  hut  are  "  attacking  the  army 
and  the  navy.  The  Principality  of  Wales,  and  the  East  India 
Company,  Ihey  have  already  acquired."  And  what  is  more  still, 
they  have  made  their  way  into  "  the  i.Eiiisi.ATi-RE  ;  and  by  the 
talents  of  some  of  them,  and  the  unimpeached  excellenre  of  tUeji 

*  No    XXll.  p.  341 
Vol.  III.  'M 


290  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.        [Part  U. 

characters,  render  it  probable  that  fanaticism  will  increase  rather 
than  diminish!" 

What  is  to  be  done  with  these  fanatics  ?  Trul3',  the  Reviewer 
does  not  know.  "  He  cannot  see  what  is  likely  to  impede  the 
progress"  of  their  opinions.  He  is  not  wanting  in  good  will  :  but 
what  can  he  do  ?  He  "believes  them  to  be  very  good  subjects  j 
and  has  no  doubt  but  that  any  farther  attempt  upon  their  religious 
liberties,  without  reconciling  them  to  the  Church,  would  have  a 
direct  tendency  to  render  them  disaffected  to  the  state."  He 
thinks  "  something  may  perhaps  be  done  in  the  way  of  ridicule  ;" 
but  ridicule  in  some  men's  hands  becomes  itself  ridiculous. 

Ah,  well  may  these  Reviewers  talk  of  their  ^^  feeble  endeavours 
in  assisting  the  public  judgment !"  They  have  gleaned  from  the 
Methodist  and  Evangelical  Magazines  a  portion  of  real  weakness 
and  absurdity,  though  several  of  their  extracts  are  such  only  in 
their  opinion  ;  and  with  this,  by  their  comments,  they  have  mixed 
a  larger  portion  of  misrepresentation.  The  best  use  that  the  ed-^ 
itors  of  those  publications  can  make  of  the  critique  will  be  to  be 
more  cautious  than  they  have  been  in  some  instances  ;  but  while 
they  pluck  up  the  weeds  there  is  no  need  to  plant  the  deadly 
night-shade  in  their  place.  The  Reviewer  proposes,  in  a  subse- 
quent number  to  write  an  article  on  Missions.  By  the  fore- 
going specimen  we  can  be  at  no  loss  what  to  expect  at  his 
hand. 

It  has  been  said  of  the  Edinburgh  Review,  that,  "  with  a  greater 
force  of  writing  than  the  Monthly,  it  unites  at  least  an  equal  ran- 
cour against  genuine  Christianity,  without  that  suspicion  of  Socin- 
ian  and  sectarian  bias  under  which  the  other  labours  ;  while  the 
barbarity,  insolence,  and  pride,  which  it  displays  in  almost  all  its 
criticisms,  is  sufficient  to  give  it  a  prominence  amongst  the  works 
of  darkness."  An  attack  on  missions,  from  such  a  quarter,  if  not 
to  their  honour,  cannot  be  to  their  dishonour  ;  and  if  made  by  the 
writer  of  this  article  especially,  will,  it  is  hoped,  produce  no  ill 
effects. 


STRICTLRF.S 

ON 

MAJOR  SCOTT  WARING'S 

THIRD  PAMPHLET. 


J.  HE  present  performance  is  of  a  piece  with  this  author  s 
other  productions.  The  quantity  of  repetition  surpasses  any  thing 
that  1  have  been  used  to  meet  with  in  writers  ofthe  most  ordinary 
talents.  The  foul  spirit  which  pervades  it  is  much  the  same,  up- 
on the  whole,  as  heretofore.  It  is  true,  there  is  much  less  acrimo- 
ny towards  many  of  his  opponents;  but  what  is  taken  from  them  is 
laid  upon  the  Missionaries.  The  title  of  it  might  have  been,  fVar 
with  the  Miskionariest  and  Peace  with  all  the  world  hesiden.  The 
remarks  on  the  critique  of  The  Christian  Observer,  are  so  many 
advances  (or  a  separate  peace.  The  same  may  be  said  of  his 
compliments  to  the  members  ofthe  Church  of  Scotland,  to  the  Ar- 
niinian  Methodists  to  the  United  Brethren,  and  to  all  indeed  who 
have  not  sent  Missionaries  to  India.  He  has  found  some  dilliculty, 
however,  in  ranking  under  this  head  the  Society  lor  Promoting 
Christian  Knowledge,  whom  he  will  not  allow  to  have  sent  out 
any  Missionaries  to  India,  but  merely  to  have  given  pecuniary  as- 
sistance ;  and  that  only,  it  seems,  in  former  times.  Their  own 
Reports,  however,  speak  a  different  language  :  they  express  their 
desire  of  sending  Missionaries,  provided  any  could  be  fotind  to  be 
sent. 


292  AN  AI'OLOGY  [Part  III. 

The  sum  is,  our  autlior  and  his  party  are  aware  of  their  having 
erred  in  their  first  attack.  By  makinj:  it  on  so  extended  a  scale, 
they  shocked  the  feehngs  of  the  Christian  world,  and  drew  upon 
themselves  their  united  and  indignant  censures.  But  what  is  to 
be  done  ?  Having  committed  an  error,  they  must  repair  it  as  well 
as  they  are  able  ;  and  there  is  no  way  of  doing  this  but  by  en- 
deavouring to  divide  their  opponents.  With  nil  his  antipathy  to 
the  Evangelical  Clergy,  the  Major  would  make  peace  with  them, 
and  grant  them  almost  any  terms,  so  that  they  would  be  neutrals  in 
his  war  of  extermination  against  the  Missionaries. 

Having  requested  a  friend  in  town  to  furnish  the  Major  with  the 
First  Part  of  my  Apology,  he  had  no  sooner  dipt  into  it  than  he 
proclaimed,  in  his  preface,  that  I  had  "  put  beyond  the  possibil- 
ity of  future  doubt  the  correctness  of  his  private  information  ;" 
that  is,  by  publishing  Mr.  Carey's  letter,  in  which  he  speaks  of 
alarms  which  had  been  spread  through  India.  After  this,  no  per- 
son, he  presumes,  will  venture  to  say  that  an  alarm  was  not  spread 
through  India  in  1806  and  1807,  relative  to  Missionaries,  (p.  vi.) 
But  whoever  denied  that  an  alarm  was  spread  among  Europeans, 
throughout  India  ?  1  knew  that  at  each  of  the  three  presidencies 
these  alarms  had  been  industriously  circulated,  and  strange  reports 
added  to  them,  as  that  the  Missionaries,  or  at  least  Mr.  Carey, 
were  imprisoned,  &,c.  &;c.  It  was  of  these  alarms  that  I  under- 
stood, and  still  understand  Mr,  Carey  to  have  written,  and  not  of 
any  which  were  entertained  by  the  native  popidation  of  India, 
which  is  the  point  that  our  author's  private  information  aims  to 
establish.  From  the  date  of  th6  Vellore  mutiny,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  alarms  having  existed  throughout  the  country  among  Eu- 
ropeans ;  and  in  Mr.  Carey's  opinion,  so  far  as  they  related  to  the 
plans  of  Cijristian  Missionaries,  they  were  fabricated  by  Deists, 
who  availed  themselves  of  that  and  other  circumstances  to  an- 
swer an  end. 

He  adds,  "On  the  13th  of  Feb,  1807,  Mr.  Carey  writes,  A 
number  of  persons  were  preparing  to  embark  for  Europe  tcilh  a 
view  to  spread  the  alarm  at  home."  Mr.  Carey  writes  no  such 
thing.  Whatever  merit  or  demerit  there  may  be  in  that  para- 
graph, it  belongs  to  the  apologist,  and  not  to  Mr.  Carey.     This,  if 


I'ART  III.]  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  JOS 

our  author  had  been  a  little  le^s  in  liurry,  he  niu«t  have  per- 
ceived. Mr.  Carey,  instead  of  having  communicated  it  is  supposed 
rtof  to  be  awarr  of  it.  And  though  it  is  there  intimated  that  a 
number  of  persons  were  at  that  time  preparing  to  emhark,  with  a 
view  to  spread  the  alarms  at  home,  yet  it  was  never  imagined  that 
this  was  their  sole  view,  in  returning  (o  Europe. 

There  is  no  dilTiculty  in  understanding  the  Major,  when  he  sug- 
gests that  Mr.  Carey  must  have  included  the  Governor  of  Ceylon, 
and  the  Governor-General  and  Coimcil  of  Bengal  among  the 
Deists  who  swarm  in  India,  "because  they  have  very  effectually 
opposed  the  plans  of  the  Missionaries."  (p.  viii.)  Of  the  former 
I  have  heard  nothing,  except  from  our  author,  and  therefore  hope 
it  may  resemble  many  other  things  of  his  communicating.  And 
as  to  the  latter,  if  any  such  effectual  opposition  has  been  made,  as 
he  appears  to  hope  for,  it  is  unknown  to  me.  But  if  it  have,  it  is 
no  new  thing  for  Deists  so  fir  to  conceal  their  motives  as  to  influ- 
•  nce  public  measures,  even  those  in  which  men  of  very  different 
principles  preside. 

I  have  no  inclination  to  follow  this  writer  through  one  tenth  ol 
liis  wranglings  and  repetitions  ;  nor  is  there  any  need  of  it.  Il 
will  he  siiflicient,  if,  after  a  few  general  remarks,  I  answer  his 
most  serious  charges  against  the  Missionaries. 

The  Major  intimates,  that  if  his  assertion  of  Mr.  Ward's  having 
wnpioiisly  perverted  a  passage  of  the  holy  gospel  could  be  dispro- 
ved, that  were  coming  to  an  issue,  (p.  22.)  If  it  were  in  the 
power  of  evidence  to  convince  him  on  this  subject,  he  would  be 
convinced  by  what  is  alleged  by  tite  Christian  Observer.  But  the 
truth  is,  as  Dr.  .lohnson  is  said  to  have  bluntly  expressed  it,  in  an- 
swering an  ignorant  opponent,  We  may  offer  evidence  but  we  can- 
not furnish  nun  with  understanding. 

II  is  still  persisted  in,  that  missions,  or  Bibles,  sent  into  a  coun- 
try where  we  had  engaged  to  preserve  to  them  the  free  exercise  of 
riligion,  amount  to  a  violation  of  the  public  faith,  (p.  8.)  The 
free  exercise  of  one  religion  then,  it  seems,  is  inconsistent  with 
the  free  offer  of  another.  'J'he  next  proposal  to  government  may 
be  for  the  silencing  of  Protestant  Dissenters  ;  for  so  long  as  they 
are  allowed  to  preach  in  the  country,  the  members  of  the  National 


294  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  HI. 

Church,  according  to  his  reasoning,  have  not  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion. 

When  converts  to  Christianity  are  mentioned,  the  Major  calls 
out,  "  Where  are  they  ?  Who  are  they  ?  I  can  find  no  account 
of  them  in  the  Missionary  Reports.''^  (p.  18.)  He  speaks,  however, 
in  another  place,  of  the  "  nonsense  that  we  may  read  in  the  Mis- 
sionary  Reports,  relative  to  the  success  of  the  Missionaries,  in  ma- 
king numerous  converts  to  Christianity,  (p.  33.)  If  he  has  read  the 
last  four  or  five  Reports  of  The  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge,  he  must  there  have  met  with  the  largest  portion 
of  this  kind  of  nonsense  that  has  appeared  of  late  years,  particu- 
larly in  the  communications  of  Mr.  Gericke.  And,  as  he  has  ex- 
amined the  Baptist  Periodical  Accounts,  he  cannot  have  overlook- 
ed the  list  of  the  baptised  in  No.  XV^.  down  to  Nov.  1804.  He 
must  there  have  seen  several  brahmans  among  them,  and  also  sev- 
eral Mahometans,  and  consequently  have  known  his  private  ac- 
counts to  be  unfounded.  But  perhaps  he  will  answer,  as  in  p.  73, 
"  This  is  an  atrocious  falsehood."  We  leave  the  reader  to  judge 
from  what  has  been  said,  and  what  may  yet  be  said,  to  whom  the 
charge  of  falsehood  belongs.  Meanwhile,  if  our  author  be  deter- 
mined to  disbelieve  the  accounts,  let  him  disbelieve  them;  but  let 
him  not  say  they  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  Missionary  Reports, 
and  at  the  same  time  accuse  those  Reports  of  nonsense  for  rela- 
ting them  ! 

It  is  remarkable  with  what  facility  the  Major  picks  up  the  dis- 
cordant principles  of  other  men,  and  sews  them  together  in  a  sort 
of  patch-work.  One  while  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph  seemed  to  be 
his  oracle:  now  the  Barrister  is  every  thing.  Getting  hold  of 
him,  he  can  mimic  the  Socinian,  and  declaim  against  John  Calvin. 
The  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph  would  have  censured  him  for  traducing 
Calvin,  for  whom  he  professed  a  high  respect.  But  when  a  man 
has  no  principles  of  his  own,  what  can  he  do  ?  He  had  better  not 
borrow  those  of  others,  however,  till  he  knows  how  to  use  them. 

By  the  frequent  recurrence  of  such  terms  as  hot-headed  mani- 
acs, madmen,  mad  Calvinists,  mad  Baptists,  &c.  &c.  it  would  seem 
as  if  the  gentleman  himself  was  scarcely  sober.  Had  this  raving 
kind  ef  diction  been  confined  to  his  later  publications,  we  might 


Part  III.]  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSION^;.  293 

hiive  ascribeti  it  to  the  goadings  of  the  Reviews;  but  as  it  has  been 
his  strain  of  writing  from  the  beginning,  it  must  belong  to  his  nature. 

We  have  heard  much  of  a  certain  tract,  which  calls  the  natives 
''barbarians,  and  their  shastors  barbarian-shasters,"  and  of  some 
thousands  of  it  being  distributed  among  the  native  troops,  and  other 
mhabitants  of  Bengal.  At  length  we  are  told,  that  the  Missionaries, 
with  all  llieir  activity,  did  not  visit  one  military  station;  that  their 
abusive  tracts  were  distributed  once  at  Berhampore  among  the  na- 
tive troops,  and  that  the  copv  now  in  England  was  given  by  one  of 
our  Seapoys  to  his  officer,  (p.  129.)  We  are  much  obliged  to  the 
Major  for  being  so  explicit.  He  may  tell  us,  in  his  next  piece, 
who  translated  it;  for  he  seems  to  be  quite  in  the  secret.  At  pre- 
sent, I  can  only  observe,  that,  by  his  account,  this  obnoxious  tract 
appears  to  have  been  scattered  among  the  troops  by  thousands,  if 
not  without  hands,  yet  without  a  single  visit  from  the  Missionaries  ' 

The  Major  has  not  yet  finished  his  labours  in  defaming  the  mem- 
ory of  Mr.  Thomas.  *'  A  man,''  he  says,  ''  whom  Mr.  Thomas 
puts  down  as  a  brahman,  a  man  of  title,  was,  in  fact,  a  servant  of 
Mr.  Thomas,  an  outcast  of  society.  This  fellow,  Parbotee,  as  he 
is  called,  robbed  his  master,  Mr.  Thomas,  and  ran  away,  and,  as  I 
understand,  died  mad,  at  a  distant  period."  (p.  75-)  For  a  writer, 
on  the  authority  of  men  whom  he  will  not  name,  thus  to  abuse  the 
memory  of  the  dead,  is  an  outrage  on  decency.  Parbotee  was  and 
IS  a  brahman,  and  never  was  a  servant  to  Mr.  Thomas.  When  will 
this  man  desist  from  retailing  falsehood  .' 

Speaking  of  Missionary  Societies,  he  says,  "  There  is  also  an 
Arminian  Afethodist  Society,  and  a  Society  of  the  United  Breth- 
ren, whose  Missionaries  are  well  employed  in  Pagan  countries; 
but  they  have  wisely  refrained  from  sending  Missionaries  to  India." 
(p.  86.)  Have  they  ?  Yet  we  are  told  in  the  preface  (o  the  Oh- 
servations,  p.  xv.  that  there  are  "  spread  over  India,  Arminian 
Methodists,  and  United  Brethren  Missionaries,  &c.  &c.  And  in 
the  letter  to  Mr.  Owen,  we  are  assured  that,  "  on  most  accurately 
looking  over  the  preface,  he  could  not  discover  either  a  misstate- 
ment or  a  misrepresentation  !"  (p.  1 17.)  Whether  he  discovered 
this,  or  whether  he  wrote  both  without  discovering  them  to  be 
eontradirtions,  it  is  not  forme  to  determine;  but  if  the  latter  were 


296  AN   APOLOGY  [I'ART  III. 

the  case  1  should  nol  be  surprised,  for  it  i^  easy  to  perceive  that, 
in  many  instances,  he  know;'  not  what  he  writes. 

"  Mr.  Marshnian,"  says  he,  "  vvas  at  Sangur,  during  a  great 
Hindoo  festival,  where  at  least  200,000  Hindoos  were  assembled. 
He  preached  to  as  many  as  could  hear  him,  an«l  he  told  the  Hin- 
doos that  '  he  did  not  come,  like  other  Englishmen,  to  take  their 
money,  but  to  bring  the  jewel  above  all  price,  the  grand  ofi'er  of 
salvation.'  The  Hindoos  became  clamourous  on  their  devotions 
being  thus  disturbed,  and  Mr.  Marshman  exclaimed,  '  Well,  since 
you  decline  it,  remember  that  as  you  have  received  the  gospel, 
you  have  no  longer  any  excuse  for  idolatry,  but  will  be  damned 
everlastingly.''  "  (pp.  36.  98.) 

It  is  the  practice  of  this  writer  to  make  no  references  to  the 
page  or  book  from  which  he  takes  his  extracts.  In  cases  of  accu- 
sation, this  is  unpardonable,  and  is  difficult  to  be  accounted  for  on 
any  principle  but  that  of  a  desire  to  escape  detection. 

The  only  visits  to  Saugur  of  which  I  have  any  remembrance,  or 
can  find  any  traces  in  the  Periodical  Accounts,  are  two.  One  may 
be  found  in  No.  XVI.  pp.  225,  226;  but  in  this,  there  is  no  address 
to  the  Hindoos  of  any  kind;  his  quotation,  therefore,  could  not  be 
taken  from  thence.  The  other  is  in  No.  XIV.  pp.  613 — 522. 
Here  there  is  an  address  to  the  Hindoos;  and  as  some  of  the  words 
which  are  quoted  are  to  be  found  in  p.  521,  1  conclude  it  must  be 
to  this  address  that  he  refers. 

On  reading  the  whole  account,  and  comparing  it  with  Major 
Scott  Waring'.s,  I  find  in  the  latter  a  much  larger  portion  of  mis- 
representation than  of  fact.  Mr.  Marshman  was  not  the  Mission- 
ary who  addressed  the  Hindoos,  but  Mr.  Chamberlain;  and  the 
circumstance  of  their  "  becoming  clamourous  on  account  of  their 
devotions  being  disturbed,"  is  not  in  the  account,  and  must,  there- 
fore, either  have  been  taken  from  some  other  account,  and  with- 
out regard  to  truth  applied  to  this,  or  be  absolutely  a  fabrication. 
Nor  is  this  all:  Tliere  were  no  such  words  spoken  as  of  his  being 
come  to  bring  thejeivel  above  nil  price,  the  grand  ojfer  of  salvation: 
nor  did  he  exclaim,  Well,  since  yon  decline  it,  remembtr,  that  as 
you  have  received  the  gospel,  you  have  no  longer  any  excuse  for 
idolatry,  but  will  be  damned  everlastingly.     These  are  Major  Scott 


i'ART  in.]  FOK  (.IIRISTIAN  MISSION^.  097 

VVarin;;'?  word's,  and  not  (liose  of  the  Missionary.  Ho  may  ]>rctond 
thai  there  were  things  said  which  are  capable  of  this  construction; 
but  he  has  no  right  to  quote  his  own  constructions,  be  they  just  or 
not,  as  the  words  of  another.  1  hoped  before,  that  the  Major,  not 
withstanding  all  his  misstatements,  Jiad  not  been  guilty  of  Ti^ilfiit 
errors;  but  really,  after  this,  he  hardly  leaves  one  the  power  of 
placing  any  dependence  on  his  veracity. 

A  great  deal  is  said  about  llie  number  ot  the  Missionaries.  It  is 
introduced  in  this  pamphlet  in  no  loss  than  seven  places.  It  is 
said  that  ''  the  London  Society  maintain  thirteen  JNIissionarics  on 
the  Co.ist,  and  in  Ceylon,  and  one  at  Sural;  and  that  three  of  the 
number  are  icuuun."  (p.  16. j  Are  women  then  to  be  reckoned 
as  Missionaries?  If  so,  we  have  considerably  more  than  eleven 
in  Bengal.  But  why  did  he  not  take  in  their  children  too.''  In 
reckoning  the  whole  number  of  both  the  societies,  sometimes 
they  are  twenty-three,  and  sometimes  twenty-five,  yet  both  are 
^iven  as  the  number  "  now  in  India."  (pp.  25.  81.)  To  assist  the 
gentleman  in  his  future  reckonings,  I  will  put  down  the  names  and 
places  of  the  Missionaries  of  both  societies. 

Messrs.  Carey,  Marshman,  Ward,  Moore,  Rowe,  Robinson,  and 
Felix  Carey,  at  Serampore ;  Mr.  Chamberlain,  at  Cutwn  ;  and 
Messrs.  Mardon  and  Chator,  at  linngoon,  iti  liurmah.  Besides 
them,  there  -was  Mr.  Biss,  but  he  died  in  1807.  Mr.  Willinm  Ca- 
rey, though  he  accompanied  Mr.  Moore  to  Dacca,  is  not  at  present 
a  3Iissionary.  The  number  of  Missionaries  therefore,  that  we 
have  now  in  the  Company's  territories,  is  only  eight. 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Lon- 
don .Society  will  show  what  are  their  numbers  and  situations.  "All 
the  Missionaries  we  have  in  India  arc,  Messrs.  Cran  and  Desgran- 
ges,  at  Vizagapatam;  Mr.  Loveless,  at  the  school  at  Madras;  Dr. 
Taylor,  at  Bombay;  Mr.  Kingletaube,  in  Truvancorc;  and  Messrs. 
Vos,  Erhartd,  and  Palm,  in  Ceylon. — Taylor  never  got  to  Sural, 
nor  can  he  go  at  present;  and  he  is  not  at  all  engnged  as  a  Mission- 
ary as  yet,  and  never,  I  believe  preached  one  sermon  to  the  hea- 
then. None  of  those  now  in  India  have  been  at  Ceylon,  but 
those  in  Ceylon  were  first  for  a  few  weeks  at  Tranquebar.  Love- 
less and  Desgranges  are  married,  as  i\h(.  the  Ceylon  Missionaries; 

Vol.  III.  38 


290  AN  APOLOGY^  LPartHI. 

but  as  their  wives  do  not  preach,  (hey  onglit  not  to  be  called  Mis- 
sionaries. We  have  heard  nothing  of  Messrs.  V^os,  Erhartd,  and 
Palm  being  sent  from  Ceylon,  and  do  not  believe  it. 

Now,  lest  the  Major  should  again  be  out  in  his  reckoning,  I  may 
inform  him  that  the  whole  number  of  Missionaries  from  this  Socie- 
ty in  Hindostan  is  Jive;  which,  with  the  three  who  are  or  were  in 
Ceylon,  make  eight;  and  which,  added  (o  the  eight  in  Bengal,  make 

SIXTEEN. 

Our  author  has  furnished  himself  with  the  Baptist  Statement, 
which  seems  to  have  afforded  him  much  new  light  upon  the  sub- 
ject. This  Statement,  the  reader  should  be  informed,  was  drawn 
up  in  the  spring  of  1807,  not  to  be  sold,  but  circulated  among  the 
Directors,  and  the  members  of  Administration.  The  design  of  it 
was  to  counteract  the  influence  of  a  number  of  private  letters  which 
had  then  arrived  from  India  against  the  mission;  and  I  have  no  par- 
ticular reason  to  doubt  of  its  having  answered  the  end. 

Had  the  Major  known  the  pariiculars  communicated  in  this 
Statement  sooner,  he  "  should  not  have  written  one  word  about 
Bengal  Missionaries."  (p.  60.)  We  hope  then  he  will  learn,  in 
future,  to  wait  till  he  understands  a  subject  before  he  writes  upon 
it.  It  might  be  full  as  creditable  to  himself  to  do  so,  and  some  sa- 
ving to  the  public.  But  we  must  not  count  too  fast  on  the  Major's 
approbation.  If  he  had  not  written,  it  had  been,  not  from  any  sat- 
isfactory opinion  of  the  Missionaries'  conduct,  but  from  their  being 
laid  under  an  interdiction  which  he  hopes  may  be  sufficient  to  stop 
them  in  their  career.  It  is  possible,  however,  he  might  have  writ- 
ten notwithstanding;  for  since  he  has  seen  the  Statement,  he  has 
written  nearly  as  much  as  he  did  before. 

Our  author,  in  going  over  the  Statement,  finds  the  Baptist  Soci- 
ety submitting  to  the  consideration  of  Government  the  following 
proposition,  as  the  opinion  of  the  Missionaries:  "  No  political  q.vil 
can  reasonably  be  feared  from  the  spread  of  Christianity.now,  for 
it  has  been  publicly  preached  in  different  parts  of  Bengal  for  about 
twenty  years  past,*  without  the  smallest  symptom  of  the  kind." 

*  Though  Mr.  Carey  had  been  there  only  ttiirteen  years  ;  yet  Mr.  Thomas 
had  publicly  jireached  to  tlie  Hindoos  in  fheir  own  lanjuag^e  for  several  year" 
before. 


Part  III.]  FOll  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  09«J 

•'  But  nre  the  Baptist  Misr^ionarif^,"  he  ;V'ke,  ''  or  their  Society  :\t 
homo,  authorised  by  law  to  determine  whether  or  not  u  political 
evil  is  to  be  reasonably  feared  iVoni  the  spread  of  Christianity  iu 
India  ?"  (p.  69.)  Unless  our  beitig  Baptists  deprives  us  of  the 
right  of  all  other  subjects,  we  have  just  the  same  authority  ns  Ma- 
jor Scott  Warinsi,  who  also  has  said  a  e;reat  deal  to  Governnieiit  on 
what  is  reasonable  ami  unreasonable.  He  states  what  he  conceives 
to  be  ejood  policy,  submitting  it  to  the  consideration  of  those  who 
are  authorised  to  determine  it;   and  vvc  have  done  no  more. 

But  the  principal  materials  which  our  juithor  finds  in  the  Bap- 
tist Statement,  are  such  as  to  enable  him  to  accuse  us,  as  he  thinks, 
of  falsehood,  and  even  of  rebellion.  These  are  certainly  very  se- 
rious charge-*,  and  if  we  be  unable  to  answer  them,  must  sink  us  iu 
ihe  estimation  of  all  honest  men. 

For  our  parts,  we  are  not  conscious  of  having  been  guilty  ot 
either  of  these  crimes.  So  far  as  we  know  our  own  hearts,  we 
have  fiom  the  beginninc;  exercise*!  a  conscience  void  of  offence  to- 
wards God  and  towards  man.  If  we  be  guilty,  therefore,  wc 
must  be  under  the  arosscst  self  deception.  And  as  we  never  con- 
sidered ourselves  either  as  liars  or  rebels,  neither  have  wc  been 
able  to  learn  that  any  other  person,  hii^h  or  low,  Churchman  or 
Dissenter,  friend  or  enemy,  has  so  considered  us,  till  Major  Scott 
U'aring  m;ule  the  discovery. 

**  Not  a  single  instance  of  disturbance  has  occurred,'"  says  Mr. 
Carev,  unless  the  abusive  language  of  a  few  loose  persons  may  be 
so  called."  To  piove  the  falsehood  of  this  statement,  the  Major  re- 
fers to  the  old  story  of  a  universal  alarm  being  excited  by  their  en- 
tering into  a  city  or  a  village.  One  of  these  statements,  he  says, 
must  hejalse.  But  if  the  alarm  mean  nothing  more  than  a  sensation 
of  fear  arising  from  the  presence  of  Europeans,  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  disturbance  included  in  it,  Our  author  has  read 
the  account  of  the  journey  to  Sangur  ;*  and  might  hai^  observed, 
that  the  people  were  surprised  to  see  Europeans  amongst  them, 
•nnd  (hat  some  appeared  afraid  :  yet  at  that  time  their  errand  wa« 

"•  Periodical  Account?.  No.  XIV.  p.  518. 


•*».. 


300  AxN  APOLOGY  [Part  IIT. 

unknown.     This  fear,  therefore,  could  not  respect  them  as  Mis- 
sionaries, but  merely  as  Europeans. 

Mr.  Carey  says  further,  that  "the  Missionaries  on  the  coast  reck- 
oned about  forty  thousand  persons  to  have  embraced  Christianity." 
"  This,"  says  the  Major,  "  is  another  direct  false  assertion.  Dr. 
Kerr  admits,  on  the  7th  of  Nov.  1806,  that  hitherto  it  is  generally 
imagined  few  good  converts  have  been  madey  (p.  70.)  But  though 
this  might  he  generally  imagined,  yet  it  does  not  follow  that  it  was 
true,  or  that  Dr.  Kerr  thought  it  to  be  true.  Or  granting  that  he 
did,  lie  migiit  mean  it  only  comparatively.  Forty  thousand  peo- 
ple are  but  few  when  compared  with  the  population  of  the  coun- 
try. In  the  letter  addressed  to  Dr.  Vmcent,  which  was  published 
m  the  Report  of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge, 
of  1800,  they  are  reckoned  at  three  thousand  ;"  and  since  that  time, 
according  to  the  Reports  of  that  Society,  there  have  been  great  ac- 
cessions ;  whole  villages  casting  away  their  idols,  and  embracing 
the  gospel.  Whether  forty  thousand  be  a  just  estimate,  I  cannot 
tell,  and  Mr.  Carey  does  not  determine  ;  but  till  I  have  some  bet- 
ter proof  of  his  want  of  veracity  than  has  yet  appeared,  I  entertain 
no  doubt  of  its  being  agreeable  to  the  information  he  had  received. 

Thousands  of  heathens  in  Calcutta  were  willing  to  hear  the 
gospel ;  but  we,  says  Mr.  Marshman,  "  are  forbiden  to  preach  it." 
That  is,  in  Calcutta,  where  they  had  preached  it.  "  This  asser- 
tion says  the  Major,  "  is  false  ;  they  are  allowed  to  preach  it  in 
Serampore,  and  in  their  own  house  in  Calcutta,"  But  the  thous- 
ands who  desire  to  hear  it  could  not  attend  in  either  of  those  pla- 
ces. If  Major  Scott  Waring  want  understanding,  who  can  help  it  ? 
But  he  should  not  charge  that  as  false  which  arises  from  his  own 
misconstructions. 

To  say  that  thousands  of  heathens  are  willing  to  hear  the  gospel, 
is  he  says,  "  a  t  ,!^'^  and  wicked  assertion,  in  the  way  in  which  the 
Missionaries  desire  to  be  understood.  Curiosity  may  draw,  as  it 
has  done,  thousands  together  to  hear  these  men  preach,  but  they 
are  not  likely  to  use  the  elegant  expression  of  one  of  the  coast 
Missionaries,  to  catch  one  (of  the  thousands)  in  the  Gospel  net." 
(p.  72.)  The  Missionaries  never  desired  to  be  understood  as  if 
thousands  stood  ready  to  embrace   Christianity,  but  merely  that 


riRTlll.J  roil  CHRIS'IIAN  IVllSSIONP.  ,}(jl 

they  were  willii));,  and  even  desirous  to  hoar  it  it  ;  and  thi^,  what- 
ever were  their  motives,  was  the  the  trutli.  As  to  the  iuipruba- 
bility  of  their  being  brought  to  believe  it,  that  i?  only  Major  Scott 
W'aring's  opinion,  and  stands  for  nothing. 

"  AVe  have  baptised,"  says  Mr.  Marshnian,  "  about  a  hundred 
of  these  people,  and  we  dare  afhrm  that  the  British  Government 
has  not  a  hundred  better  subjects,  and  more  cordial  friends  among 
the  natives  of  Hindostan."  "  This,"  says  the  Major,  "  is  a  most 
atrocious  falsehood.  Of  their  hundred  converts  whom  they  have 
baptised  in  thirteen  years,*  they  have  dismissed  many  for  gross 
immorality."  (p.  73.)  The  nimiber  of  those  who  have  been  dis- 
missed for  gross  immorality,  however,  is  not  so  great  as  this  writer 
would  have  thought  it  to  be  ;  but  be  it  what  it  may,  Mr.  Marsh- 
man  says,  in  the  same  page,  *'  If  they  Jose  cast,  and  embrace 
Christianity,  not  by  force,  but  from  pure  conviction,  they  become 
other  men.  Even  those  who,  as  it  may  prove,  have  not  embraced  it 
cordially,  are  considerably  influenced  by  it.  If  once  they  lose  cast, 
the  charm  is  broken,  and  they  become  capable  of  attachment  to 
Government. 

But  I  am  weary  of  contending  with  this  foul  opponent.  It  is 
time  to  bring  this  part  of  the  subject,  at  least,  to  a  close.  As  "the 
most  atrocious  falsehood"  is  charged  on  the  Missionaries,  let  U9 
here  come  to  an  issue.  W(>  will  not  shrink  from  it.  Let  our 
judges  satisfy  themselves  of  the  truth  of  our  statements.  We  will 
hold  ourselves  obliged,  whenever  called  upon  by  proper  au- 
thority, to  give  proof  of  them.  If  falsehood  be  found  on  our  side 
let  our  Missionaries  be  ordered  out  oi"  the  country  as  a  set  of  im- 
postors ;  but  if  on  the  side  of  our  accusers,  let  the  burden  which 
they  have  laboured  to  fasten  upon  lis,  fall  upon  themselves. 

But  our  Missionaries  are  accused  not  only  of  falsehood,  but  with 
being  "in  open  rebellion."  This  accusation  is  founded  on  their 
going  out  without  legal  authority,  and  by  foreign  ships; — on  their 
availing  themselves  of  the  protection  of  Denmark;— and  on  their 
itinerating  in  the  country  without  passports,  and  after  a  legal  per- 
mission to  do  so,  was  refused  them. 

'  He  misht  have  said  imw 


302  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  III. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  on  this  subject,  the  hoj>es  of  our  ac- 
cusers begin  to  brighten.  Like  the  Pharisees  and  the  Herodians, 
he  thinks  he  shall  be  able  to  entangle  us,  and  bring  us  under  the 
displeasure  of  Government.  Well,  let  him  do  his  utmost.  We 
acknowledge  the  above  to  be  facts,  let  them  affect  us  as  they  may. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice,  however,  that  it  is  not  owing  to  any  thing 
which  our  accuser  has  written  that  these  facts  have  been  brought 
to  light.  The  substance  oflhem  was  contained  in  the  Statement: 
which  Statement,  was,  in  fact,  though  not  in  form,  respectfully 
submitted  to  the  very  parties  to  whom  he  wishes  to  accase  us. 
He  is,  therefore,  a  day  too  late.  Our  judges  were  in  possession 
of  the  facts  before  he  knew  of  them.  There  is  nothing  left  for 
him  to  do  as  an  accuser,  but  merely  as  a  counsel,  to  assist  the 
.Judges  in  forming  a  decision,  by  his  commrnts  and  learned  argu- 
ments. And  with  respect  to  these,  we  must  take  the  liberty  of 
wiping  offa  part  of  his  colouring  ;  and  truly  it  can  be  only  a  part, 
for  to  remove  the  whole,  the  pamphlet  itself  must  be  literally  pu- 
rified by  fire. 

The  itinerating  excursions,  subsequent  to  the  refusal  of  a  legal 
permission  in  1805,  were  not  in  c^fyfrnice  of  Government,  but  with 
their  knowledge,  and,  I  m.iy  say  their  approb.ilion.  The  refusal 
of  the  Governor-General  did  not  appear  to  ri.«e  from  any  disap- 
probation of  the  object,  or  of  the  means  used  to  accomplish  it  ; 
but  merely  from  a  hesitation  whether  the  Government  in  India 
were  warranted ybrma//y  to  adopt  the  measure.  There  was  no 
prohibition  whatever  at  that  time  laid  upon  the  Missionaries,  nor 
any  intimations  of  even  a  wish  for  them  to  relax  in  their  itiner- 
ating labours.  On  the  contrary,  when,  from  the  hesitation  before 
mentioned,  the  Governor-General  disapproved  of  a  committee  to 
superintend  the  translations,  he  nevertheless  gave  full  liberty  to 
advertise  in  the  Gazette  for  voluntary  subscriptions  ;  and  added, 
"  Let  the  Missionaries  go  on  in  their  present  line  of  action." 

Our  accuser,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  this  last  sentence, 
contrives  to  throw  it  back  a  year,  supposing  the  remark  must 
have  been  made  prior  to  the  autumn  of  1805."  (p.  93.)  Certain- 
ly this  supposition  is  necessary  for  his  argument ;  but  unfortunate- 
ly it  is  not  true.     1  cannot  exactly  refer  to  the  date,  but  have  no 


I'art  111.)  /OR  CUKISn.W  MISSION?.  3O3 

doubt  of  it.s  being  in  IS06.  Xcver  till  the  21th  of  August  ui  that 
year,  was  any  thing  like  a  proliibition  given,  and  then  it  appears 
to  have  urisen  more  from  apprehension  than  dislike  ;  and  con- 
sisted not  in  a  written  order  from  the  Governor-tioneral  in  Coun- 
cil, but  merely  in  a  private  verbal  message.  If,  therefore,  the 
Major  flatter  himself  that  Sir  George  Darlow  isj  of  the  same  mind 
with  him  and  hi.>:  party,  he  may  find  himself  mistaken. 

I  may  add,  that  the  protection  of  the  Danish  Government  was 
granted  at  the  unsolicited  recommendation  of  the  late  Governor 
Bie,  whose  testimony  to  the  good  character  of  tiie  Missionaries 
was  not  only  sent  to  his  own  Government  at  Copenhagen,  but  the 
same  thing  conveyed  in  a  letter  to  the  Society  in  England  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms  : — "  Permit  me  to  assure  you,  that  I  do  not  consider 
the  tViendship  and  few  civilities  I  have  had  it  in  my  pov\er  to  show 
your  brethren  here,  otherwise  than  as  fully  due  to  them.  I  have 
received  them  as  righteous  men,  in  the  name  of  righteous  men  ; 
and  1  shall  never  withhold  good  from  them  to  whom  it  is  due,  when 
it  is  in  the  power  of  my  hand  to  do  it.  I  am  happy  in  possessing 
them,  and  will  be  more  so  in  seeing  their  number  increase." — 
The  Missionaries  have  always  acknowledged  the  kindness  of  the 
British  as  well  as  of  the  Danish  Government  ;  and  though  atone 
period  they  cxpre?-sed  their  concern  at  being  forbidden  to  preach 
to  the  multitudes  who  were  willing  to  hear  in  Calcutta,  yet  nei- 
ther they  nor  the  Society  have  dealt  in  reflections,  but  have  con- 
tented themselves  with  simply  stating  the  facts,  and  the  arguments^ 
arising  from  them  ;  and  this  merely  to  counteract  the  underhand 
measures  of  their  adversaries. 

We  oidy  ask  for  a  calm  and  candid  hearing.  We  solemnly  aver 
before  God  and  our  country,  that  we  arc  most  sincerely  attached  to 
its  Constitution  and  Government  ;  that  we  regard  its  authority 
with  sentiments  of  the  highest  respect,  and  hold  ourselves  bound 
to  be  obedient  to  its  lawful  commands.  Obedience  to  the  ruling 
()owers  we  conceive  to  be  enjoined  iu  scripture  ;  where,  how- 
ever, an  exception  is  expressly  made  in  favour  of  those  cases  in 
which  the  commands  of  man  are  directly  o|)poscd  to  the  revealed 
commands  of  God.  These  are  cases  which,  in  the  course  of  hu- 
man afTiir*:.  iiiav  occur  ;  but  which  no  good  subject  will  love  to  ati 


304  '^N  APOLOGY  [Part  111. 

ticipate  before  their  actual  occurrence.  Supposing,  however,  the 
arrival  of  an  emergence  so  painful,  it  surely  would  be  somewhat 
harsh  to  stigmatize  with  the  name  of  "  open  rebellion'"  the  reluc- 
tant disobedience,  in  a  particular  instance  of  those,  who  are  only 
yielding  to  a  deliberate,  sober,  and  conscientious  conviction  of 
their  duty.  The  apostles  exhorted  all  Christians,  rather  than  re- 
nounce their  faith  or  disobey  the  divine  precepts  at  the  command 
of  the  state,  to  "  resist  oven  unto  blood  ;"  but  we  have  yet  to 
learn  that  such  injunctions  were  intended  or  received  as  instiga- 
tions to  rebellion. 

Were  it  possible  to  conceive  (we  merely  suppose  the  case) 
that  the  Missionaries  should  be  called  to  the  hard  duty  of  deci- 
ding between  the  service  of  God  and  obedience  to  man,  we  trust 
that  they  would  be  enabled  to  encounter,  with  resignation,  the 
painful  sacrifice  imposed  upon  them  ;  but  we  are  thankful  to  say 
that  they  have  as  yet  been  spared  so  severe  a  trial. 

Surely,  nothing  but  the  most  uncandid  and  bitter  prejudice 
would  represent  the  refusal  of  an  official  sanction  to  their  itiner- 
ations as  an  imperative  prohibition  of  them  ;  or  would  class  the 
Missionaries  as  rebels  merely  because  being  denied  the  formal 
protection  of  the  governing  power,  they  were  content  with  conni- 
vance, or  at  least  with  uncovenanted  toleration.  Numbers  of  Eu- 
ropeans are  to  be  found  residing  in  India,  though  unaccredited  by 
the  company  or  the  British  Governments  ;  and  we  have  never  un- 
derstood that  all  these  were  considered  as  in  a  state  of  "  open  re- 
bellion." Yet  we  have  no  objection  to  be  explicit,  and  will  be  free 
to  confess  that  the  legality  of  such  a  residence  for  the  purposes  of 
private  emolument  would  in  our  view  be  more  than  doubtful,  and 
that  we  should  certainly  abstain  from  it. 

If  upon  a  candid  consideration  of  all  circumstances,  it  be  found  that 
we  have  in  some  instances  deviated  from  the  regulations  alluded  to, 
it  will  be  remembered  that  it  has  not  been  for  any  object  of  temporal 
advantage,  the  illicit  pursuit  of  which  it  was  doubtless  the  design  of 
those  regulations  to  prevent,  though  they  are  necessarily  expressed 
in  terms  which  give  them  a  more  general  application.  As  far,  indeed, 
as  the  deviation  may,  even  under  these  circumstances,  seem  an  ir- 
regular proceeding,  so  far  we  should  certainly  rest  our  defence  of  it 


Part  lllJ  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  305 

on  the  nature  and  importance  of  the  objects  which  it  was  intended 
t')  compass  ;  and  in  this  mild  and  qualified  case,  should  even  a[)- 
peal  to  the  spirit  of  the  princi[)le  vvhich  has;  been  already  mention- 
ed— the  principle  of  a  conscientious  preference  of  duty  to  all  oth- 
er considerations,  however  pressing. 

With  respect  to  the  fpiestion  of  duty,  we  are  aware  that  men 
may  be  prompted  by  delusive  impulses  and  erroneous  comments 
to  measures  of  extravagance,  justly  censurable  by  civil  authority. 
But  wo  are  governed  by  no  sucii  iiipulscs.  We  have  no  notion  of 
any  thing  being  the  will  of  Cioil,  but  what  may  be  proved  from  the 
scriptures  ;  nor  of  any  obliijatioiis  upon  us  to  go  among  the  heathen 
more  than  upon  other  Christians.  If  we  be  not  authorized  by  the 
New  Testament,  we  have  no  authority.  And  as  to  our  commeyits, 
if  they  vvill  not  bear  the  test  of  fiir  and  impartial  scrutiny,  let  them 
be  disrarded,  and  let  our  undertakings  be  placed  to  the  account  of 
a  well  meant  but  niisj^iiided  zeal.  The  principal  ground  on  which 
we  act  is  confined  to  a  narrow  compass  :  it  is  the  commission  of 
our  Saviour  to  his  disciples,  Go — tench  all  jiations  ;  which  com- 
mission we  do  not  consider  ;rs  confined  to  the  apostles,  because  his 
promise  !  presence  to  tliem  who  should  execute  it  extends  to  the 
end  of  the  world. 

Our  accuser  is  aware  that  the  apostles  and  primitive  ministers 
went  every  where  preaching  the  gospel,  even  though  it  were  at 
the  risk  of  liberty  and  life  ;  and  this,  he  conceives,  was  right  in 
them,  because  "  they  were  expressly  commanded  to  do  so.  (p. 
80.)  His  conclusion,  that  it  was  wrong  in  Christians  of  the  pres- 
ent day,  rests  upon  the  supi)Osilion  that  the  command  of  Christ 
does  not  extend  to  tliem  ;  l)iit  we  shall  not  allow  him  to  build  00 
these  disputed  premises. 

That  there  were  things  committed  to  the  apostles,  for  them  to 
commit  to  Christians  of  succeeding  ages,  cannot  be  denied.  Such 
must  have  been  the  great  body  of  Christian  doctrines  and  precepts 
contained  in  the  New  Testament  ;  and,  seeing  the  promise  of 
Christ  to  be  with  his  servants  in  the  execution  of  the  command 
reaches  to  the  fnd  of  the  world,  the  command  itself  must  have  been 
of  this  description.  Not  that  every  Christian  is  obliged  to  preach 
or  any  Christian  in  all  places  :  but  the  Christian  church  as  a  body, 

Vol.  m  39 


306  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  111. 

and  every  member  of  it  individually,  is  obliged  to  do  its  utmost 
in  the  use  of  those  means  which  Christ  has  appointed  for  the  dis- 
ciplining of  all  nations. 

To  say,  that  because  we  are  not  endowed,  like  the  Apostles, 
with  the  gift  of  tongues  and  the  power  of  working  miracles,  there- 
fore we  are  not  obliged  to  make  use  of  the  powers  which  we  have 
for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  is  trilhiig,  not  reasoning.  What 
proof,  or  appearance  of  proof  is  there,  that  the  obligations  of  the 
apostles  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  nations  arose  from  those  ex- 
traordinary endowments  ?  If  our  being  unable  to  work  miracles 
be  a  reason  why  we  should  not  preach  the  gospel  to  all  nations  as 
far  as  opportunity  admits,  it  is  a  reason  why  we  should  not  admit 
it  at  all :  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  a  proof  that  the  Christian 
ministry,  as  soon  as  miracles  had  ceased,  ought  to  have  termina- 
ted. The  institution  of  the  Christian  ministry  is  founded  in  the 
commission,  even  that  commission  which  enjoins  the  teaching  of 
all  nations.  And  if  wf;  leave  out  one  part,  we  must,  to  be  con- 
sistent, leave  out  the  other.  We  ought  either  not  to  teach 
at  all,  or  according  to  our  powers  and  opportunities,  to  teach  all 
nations. 

If  we  believe  the  scriptures,  (and  if  we  do  not  we  are  not 
Christians,)  we  must  believe  that  all  nations  are  promised  to  the 
Messiah  for  his  inheritance,  no  less  than  the  land  of  Canaan  was 
promised  to  the  seed  of  Abraliara  ;  and  we,  as  well  as  they,  ought 
in  the  use  of  those  means  which  he  has  appointed,  to  go  up  and 
endeavour  to  possess  them.  It  is  not  for  us,  having  obtained  a 
comfortable  footing  in  Europe,  like  the  Israelites  in  Canaan,  to 
make  leagues  with  the  other  parts  of  the  world,  and,  provided  we 
may  but  live  at  ease  in  our  tents,  to  consent  for  them  to  remain  as 
they  are.  Such  a  spirit  though  complimented  by  some  as  liberal. 
is  mean,  and  inconsistent  with  the  love  of  either  God  or  man. 

Our  accuser  (who  will  neither  be  a  Christian,  nor  let  Christian- 
ity alone)  represents  the  apostles  as  ''  authorized  to  act  in  defame 
of  magistrates,"  to  "break  the  laws  of  the  different  countries  they 
visited,"  and  to  despise  the  orders  of  men  :"  "  But  Christians 
now,''^  he  tells  us,  "  are  expressly  directed  to  obey  the  powers  that 
hey     If  the  principle  acted  on  by  the  apostles  "be  admitted  in 


Part  III]  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  307 

these  days,"  he  thioks,  "  we  must  bid  adieu  to  India."  (pp.  53. 
79,  8'J.) 

It  would  seem,  by  this  account  of  things,  as  if  the  apostles,  under 
a  divine  authority,  trampled  on  all  law  and  order  among  men,  and,, 
as  far  as  their  itjfluence  extended,  actually  '=  turned  the  world 
upside  down."  If  it  were  not  so,  the  conclusion  that  the  same 
principle  acted  upon  in  these  days,  would  prove  the  loss  of  India, 
is  mere  unfounded  a.'ssertion.  But  were  any  such  effects  produced 
by  the  labours  of  the  apostles?  What  colonies  were  lost  to  the 
Romans  through  them?  Let  the  countries  be  named  which  were 
ruined  or  injured  bv  llitir  prcacliing. 

In  attempting  to  fix  a  charge  upon  us,  our  accuser  has  libelled 
the  apostles,  and  even  their  master,  as  well  as  the  Christians  of  all 
succeeding  ages.  Whore  did  he  learn  that  Jesus  Christ  authori- 
zed his  apostles  to  act  in  defiance  ot  magistrates,  or  to  despise  the 
orders  of  men  ?  What  proof  has  he  that  they  ever  acted  on  such 
principle  ?  was  there  any  thing  like  this  in  the  behaviour  of  Paul, 
before  Felix,  or  Festus,  or  Agrippa  ?  Sucli  a  spirit  had  no  more 
place  in  his  religion  than  our  accuser  has  been  able  to  prove  it  to 
have  had  place  in  ours.  The  apostles  were  commanded  to  break 
no  laws,  but  such  as  were  inconsistent  with  their  allegiance  to 
Christ  ;  and  in  breaking  them  they  never  acted  with  contumacy, 
but  merely  as  impelled  by  a  superior  authority  ;  bearing  at  the 
same  time,  the  consequences  with  meekness  and  fortitude,  as  their 
Lord  had  done  before  them.  The  principle  on  which  they  acted 
was  that  which  He  had  laid  down  for  them  when  tempted  by  cer- 
tain "  hypocrites,"  with  the  intent  of  rendering  him  obnoxious  to 
government ;  ('not  that  they  cared  for  government,  but  were  de- 
sirous of  making  it  tlie  instrument  of  their  malice,)  namely,  Ren- 
der unto  Cesar  the  things  tvhich  are  Cesar^s,  andunto  God  the  things 
that  are  God's. 

What  authority  has  our  accuser  for  representing  the  apostles  as 
enjoining  on  common  Christians  that  subjection  to  civil  govern- 
ment which  they  did  not  exemplify  in  their  own  conduct  ?  Were 
oot  they  themselves  subject  to  the  powers  that  were  ?  Yes,  in  ev- 
ery thing,  save  in  what  concerned  their  allegiance  to  Christ,  and 
this  reserve  they  made  for  all  Christians.     Why  else  did  they  en- 


308  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  III. 

courage  them  to  hold  fast  their  profession  under  the  most  cruel 
persecutions  ;  referring  them  to  the  last  judgment,  when  God 
would  recompense  rest  to  them,  and  tribulation  to  those  that  troub- 
led them  ?  Could  they  have  submitted  their  consciences  to  the  ru- 
ling powers,  they  need  not  have  suffered  persecution  :  but  they 
acted  on  the  same  principle  as  the  apostles,  who,  instead  of  laying 
down  one  law  for  themselves  and  another  for  them,  exhorted  them 
to  follow  their  example  :  Those  things,  said  they,  tvhich  ye  have 
both  learned,  and  received,  and  heard,  and  seen  in  us,  do. 

On  the  principle  of  our  accuser,  all  those  Christians  of  the 
first  three  centuries,  who  had  not  the  power  of  working  miracles, 
though  peaceable  and  loyal  subjects  in  civil  concerns,  yet  not  sub- 
mitting their  consciences  to  the  ruling  powers,  were  rebels.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  English  Martyrs  in  the  days  of  the  first 
Mary.  They  could  not  work  miracles  any  more  than  we,  and 
pretended  to  no  special  commission  from  heaven  to  break  the  laws; 
but  while  they  manifested  the  utmost  loyalty  to  the  queen  in  civil 
matters,  they  felt  themselves  accountable  to  a  higher  authority, 
and  submitted  to  be  burnt  alive  rather  than  obey  her  mandates. 
These  characters,  whom  all  succeeding  ages  have  revered  as  men 
of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,  were  loaded  by  the  Bonners 
and  Gardiners  of  the  day  with  every  epithet  of  abuse,  and  treated 
as  rebels. 

We  may  be  (old  that  the  cases  are  dissimilar  :  they  were  put  to 
death,  but  the  whole  that  our  accuser  aims  at  is  banishment ;  they 
suffered  for  avowing  their  religious  principles  ai  home,  whereas 
we  might  have  done  this  without  his  wishing  to  interrupt  us. 
But  this  dissimilarity  relates  only  to  degree  ;  the  principle  is  the 
same.  If,  since  the  cays  of  miracles.  Christians  have  been  under 
an  obligation  to  submit  to  the  powers  that  be,  in  religious  matters, 
the  martyrs  of  seventeen  hundred  years  have  been,  in  fact,  a  suc- 
cession of  rebels. 

Our  accuser  may  think  it  a  matter  "not  to  be  endured,"  that 
sectaries  should  compare  themselves  with   these  honoured  char- 


Part  III. J  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSION?.  309 

nctcrs  :*  but  with  his  leave,  or  without  it,  we  are  Christians; 
and  thoii^ii  we  >hoiiUl  be  less  than  the  least  of  Christ's  servants, 
yet  we  must  aspire  to  act  upon  the  f^-.xvne prificiplcs  as  the  greatest 
of  them. 

What  is  there  in  llio^e  principlfs  which  affects  the  honours  ol 
government,  or  the  peace  and  good  order  of  society  ?  Is  it  any 
•  lisparagcment  to  the  hi;:hest  human  authorities  not  to  interfere 
uith  the  divine  prerogative?  On  the  contrary,  is  it  not  their 
liii^host  honour  to  respect  it  ?  Those  governments  which,  disre- 
t;;ir(liiig  such  men  ,is  our  accuser,  protect  the  free  exercise  of  re- 
ligious principle,  will  not  only  be  prospered  of  heaven,  but  will 
ever  stand  high  in  the  e>teem  of  the  wise  and  the  good,  and  when 
the  ferment  of  the  day  is  over,  be  applauded  by  mankind  in  general. 

A  great  deal  is  said,  by  all  our  opponents,  on  the  power  of  work- 
ing miracles,  as  though  because  we  cannot  pretend  to  this  qualifi- 
cation, we  had  no  warrant  to  attempt  the  conversion  of  the  hea- 
then, "  It  is  not  to  be  endured,"  says  our  accuser,  "that  these 
men  should  be  compared  with  the  apostles  who  wrought  miracles." 
Another  wiseacre  gravely  suggests,  that  "  sectaries  are  not  likely 
to  have"  these  extraordinary  powers  ;  as  though,  had  we  been 
Churchmen,  we  might  have  stood  some  chance  of  attaining  them  !  t 
It  was  the  commission  of  Christ,  and  not  the  power  of  working 
miracles,  that  constituted  the  warrant  of  the  apostles  to  go  and 
iearh  all  nations.     The  latter  was,  indeed,  an  important  qualifica- 

*  CoD«ideriij<j  the  paius  which  have  lieen  taken  to  load  us  with  the  odium 
of  sectarianism,  it  may  he  thought  I  should  have  done  something  towards  re- 
movinff  it.  The  truth  is,  our  opponents  care  not  for  the  Church,  nor  have 
they  any  dislike  to  Dissenters,  provided  they  be  averse  to  evangelical  retigion 
AH  that  they  say,  therefore,  agrainst  us  as  sectaries,  is  for  the  mean  and  crafty 
purpose  of  working  upon  the  prejudices  of  Churchmen ;  and  such  vulgat 
abuse  requires  no  answer. 

tThis  suggestion  is  contained  in  a  piece  which  has  lately  appeared,  under 
the  title  of  The  Dangers  of  British  India,  from  French  Invasion  and  Mission- 
•ary  EslabUskmenls.  I  see  nothin;^  in  the  pamphlet  which  requires  an  answer. 
Government  will  see  to  that  part  which  refers  to  the  danger  of  French  In- 
vasion, whether  they  rend  this  performance,  or  not  ;  and  a?  to  what  relates  to 
the  Missionaries,  it  is  a  mere  repetition  of  things  which  have  been  answered 
in  th*»  preceding  pn»c?. 


310  AN  APOLOGY  ITartHL 

tion,  and  necessary  to  accredit  the  Christian  religion  at  its  outset  ; 
but  if  it  had  been  necessary  to  its  progress,  it  would  either  have 
been  continued  till  all  nations  had  been  evangelized,  or  the  prom- 
ise of  Christ  to  be  with  Ins  servants  in  the  execution  of  the  com- 
mission would  not  have  extended  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

If  we  ar«'ogated  to  compare  ourselves  with  the  apostles,  in  distinc- 
tion from  other  Christians,  that,  indeed,  were  not  to  be  endured: 
but  nothing  is  farther  from  our  minds.  If  we  compare  ourselves 
with  the  apostles,  it  is  not  as  apostles,  but  as  Christians,  engaged,  ac- 
cording to  the  gifts  which  we  possess,  in  the  same  common  cause. 
That  there  were  some  things  pursued  by  Christ  and  his  apostles 
which  require  to  be  pursued  by  all  Christians  cannot  be  denied. 
Why  else  is  our  Saviour  said  to  have  left  us  an  example  that  tve 
should  follow  his  steps?  And  why  did  the  Apostle  exhort  the  Corin- 
thians to  be  followers  of  him,  a?  he  also  was  of  Christ?  It  might 
have  been  said  of  Paul,  that  for  him  to  compare  himself  with 
Christ  *'  was  not  to  be  endured  ;  and  that  with  equal  justice 
as  this  is  said  of  us.  He  did  not  compare  himself  with  Christ, 
though  he  imitated  him  in  those  things  wherein  he  was  set  for  an 
example  ;  neither  do  we  compare  ourselves  with  the  apostles, 
though  we  imitate  them  in  those  things  wherein  they  are  set  for 
our  example. 

Nothing  is  more  evident  to  men  who  have  their  senses  exercised 
to  discern  between  good  and  evil,  than  that  the  cause  of  God  is  the 
same  in  all  ages  ;  and  that  whatever  diversity  of  gifts  there  may  be 
among  Christians,  there  is  but  one  spirit.  It  is  not  on  that  where- 
in Christianity  is  diverse  in  different  ages  that  we  found  our  com- 
parisons, but  on  that  wherein  it  is  the  same  in  all  ages.  Whatev- 
er diversities  there  were  as  to  spiritual  gifts,  between  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  or  among  the  apostles  themselves,  yet  they  each  in- 
curred the  hatred  and  opposition  of  wicked  men.  The  Lord  of 
Glory  himself  was  reproached  as  a  madman,  and  the  people  wbo 
attended  to  him  considered  as  fools  for  listening  to  his  doctrine. 
He  was  also  accused  to  government  of  stirring  up  the  people,  mere- 
ly because  he  taught  them  throughout  the  country.  Such  also  was 
the  treatment  of  the  apostles.  So  foreign  were  the  things  of  which 
Paul  discoursed,  from  all  the  previous  ideas  of  Festus,  that  though 


PaiitIII.]  for  christian  missions.  311 

he  spake  only  the  words  of  truth  and  sobern»'i=s,  yet  they  appear- 
ed to  the  other  tu  be  inadnesx.  Ami  the  cli  irges  alleged  against 
him,  at  another  time,  before  Felix,  were,  that  he  was  a  ptsiilcuf 
character,  a  mover  of  sedition  ;  and  what  was  worse  still,  aringtend- 
er  of  the  sh.cr  of  (he  Nazarenes.  Now  when  we  hear  the  same 
charges,  for  substance,  alleged  against  us,  at  a  distance  of  almost 
two  thousand  years,  we  cannot  help  concluding,  that  whatever 
disparities  there  are  between  Christ  and  the  apostles,  and  Chris- 
tians of  the  present  day,  there  are  certain  common  points  of  like- 
ness, and  that  all  such  reproaches  prove  nothing  against  us. 

We  do  not  wonder,  however,  that  our  adversaries  should  not  be 
able  to  "  endure  these  comparisons  ;  for  they  not  only  feel  an- 
noyed by  thctn,  but  must  needs  perceive  that  if  we  are  compared 
to  Christ  and  his  apostles,  thei/  also  will  be  compared  to  men  of  a 
very  opposite  character,  and  this  they  may  not  be  able  to  "en- 
dure" any  more  than  the  other. 

Another  subject  on  which  almost  all  our  opponents  dwell  is,  the 
impracticability  of  converting  the  Hindoos.  Most  of  them,  as  if 
to  screen  themselves  from  the  suspicion  of  being  averse  to  Chris- 
tianity, acknowledge,  that  if  the  thing  were  practicable,  it  would 
be  right.  Hut,  in  the  lirst  place,  they  speak  as  though  we  expect- 
ed the  sudden  conversion  of  the  whole  population  of  India  ;  and 
as  though  nothing  were  done,  unless  it  amounted  to  this :  but  we 
have  no  idea  of  the  kind.  If  the  work  go  on  in  a  silent  and  grad- 
ual way,  like  the  operations  of  a  little  leaven,  as  (he  kingdom  of 
heaven  lia«  been  used  to  go  on,  the  whole  lump  may,  in  the  end, 
though  not  at  present,  be  leavened.  We  say  the  leaven  has  begun 
to  operate,  and  all  we  desire  is,  that  that  operation  may  not  be 
impeded.  We  perfectly  agree  with  our  opponents,  that  the  Hin- 
doos can  never  be  converted  by  mere  human  means,  though  we 
are  equally  persuaded  they  will  never  be  converted  without  them. 
We  no  more  think  that  "  men  can  accomplish  it"  than  they.  We  do 
not  use  such  calculations  respecting  the  expulsion  of  Paganism  and 
Mahometanism  from  India  as  might  be  used  concerning  the  reduc- 
tion of  a  country  by  a  certain  degree  of  physical  force.  Our  hope 
arises  from  the  promise  of  Christ,  to  be  with  his  servants  in  the 
execution  of  their  mission  to  the  end  nC  \he  world.     \or  can  our 


312  AN  ArOLOGY  FO!l  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.        [Part  III. 

adversaries  consistently  object  to  this,  since  they  also  can  talk  oi' 
"  the  omnipotent  power  of  heaven  leading  these  people  into  the 
paths  of  light  and  truth,"  and  even  of"  the  outpouring  of  the  Spir. 
it"  upon  them.  The  difference  is,  they  introduce  divine  influ- 
ence as  something  miraculous,  and  for  the  purpose  of  superseding 
human  means  ;  we  as  an  ordinary  blessing,  promised  to  the  church 
in  all  ages,  and  to  encourage  the  use  of  means.  They  argue  from 
what  the  Almighty  ca?i  do,  to  what  he  must  do,  if  ever  the  work  be 
done  ;  namely,  convert  them  "  in  an  instant:"  we  consider  such 
talk  as  wild  and  visionary.  Our  opponents  sometimes  declaim 
against  the  "enthusiasm"  of  the  Missionaries  ;  but  nothing  like 
this  will  be  found  in  any  of  their  communications.  Surely  they 
must  be  hardly  driven  or  they  would  not  have  attempted  to  con- 
ceal their  opposition  to  the  progress  of  the  gospel  under  the  mask 
of  fanaticism. 

Do  they  really  think  it  more  probable,  that  God  will  convert  a 
whole  country  "  in  an  instant,"  than  that  they  will  be  converted  in 
the  ordinary  use  of  means  ?  No,  they  expect  no  such  divine  inter- 
ference, and,  it  may  be,  on  this  very  account  give  it  the  pre- 
ference. If  the  Hindoos  must  be  converted,  they  had  rather,  it 
seems,  that  it  should  be  done  by  the  immediate  power  of  God 
than  by  us  ;  but  it  requires  no  great  depth  of  penetration  to  per- 
ceive that  it  would  please  them  better  still  were  ii  to  be  done  by 
neither. 


l^KMAKKS 


A    LETTER  TO    TJIK    PKKSIDENT    OF    THE    nOARD  OK    CONTROI  ,    ON 
THE     PROPAGATION   OF  CHRISIANITY   l.\   INMA." 


Mv  design  in  noticing  Ihis  Letter  is  more  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
planation than  dispute.  The  "  hints''  suggested  to  those  who  are 
concerned  in  sending  out  Missionaries  to  the  East,  so  far  as  they 
relate  to  their  peaceable  temper  and  character,  are  very  good.  I 
can  say,  in  behalf  of  the  Societies  which  have  of  late  years  sent  out 
Missionaiies  to  that  quarter,  that  it  has  been  their  aim,  from  the 
beginning,  to  act  on  the  principle  which  the  author  recommends. 
The  following  are  extracts  from  the  Instructions  of  the  London 
and  the  Baptist  Societies. 

To  the  Missionaries  going  to  Surat. 

•'  It  is  peculiarly  incumbent  on  you  for  your  own  comfort,  and 
agreeable  to  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  our  Divine  Master,  to  avoid  all 
interference,  both  in  word  and  in  deed,  with  the  Company's  servants, 
government,  and  regulations.  We  cannot  sufficiently  convey  what  we 
feel  on  the  high  importance  of  this  injunction,  of  abstaining  from 
all  observations  on  the  political  affairs  of  the  country  or  govern- 
ment, in  your  intercourse,  and  in  your  correspondence.  The  very 
existence  of  the  mission  may  be  involved  in  an  attention,  or  inat- 
tention, to  this  regulation  !" 

Vol.  111.  40 


314  A-^'  APOLOGY  [Fart  ill. 

To  the  Missionaries  going  to  Bengal. 

"  Since  that  kingdom  which  we,  as  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  wish 
to  establish,  is  not  of  this  world,  we  affectionately  and  seriously 
enjoin  on  each  Missionary  under  our  patronage,  that  he  do  cau- 
tiously and  constantly  abstain  from  every  interference  with  the 
political  concerns  of  the  country  where  he  may  be  called  to  labour, 
whether  by  words  or  deeds;  that  he  be  obedient  to  the  laws  in 
all  civil  affairs;  that  he  respect  magistrates,  supreme  and  subor- 
dinate, and  teach  the  same  things  to  others:  in  fine,  that  he  apply 
himself  wholly  to  the  all-important  concerns  of  that  evangelical 
service  to  which  he  has  so  solemnly  dedicated  himself." 

"Lastly:  However  gross  may  be  the  idolatries  and  heathenish 
superstitions  that  may  fall  betieath  a  Missionary's  notice,  the  Soci-> 
ety  are,  nevertheless,  persuaded,  that  both  the  mutual  respect  due 
from  man  to  man,  and  the  interests  of  the  true  religion,  demand 
that  every  Missionary  should  sedulously  avoid  all  rudeness,  insult, 
or  interruption,  during  the  observance  of  the  said  superstitions; 
recommending  no  methods  but  those  adopted  by  Christ  and  hi? 
apostles,  viz.  the  persevering  use  of  scripture,  reason,  prayer, 
meekness,  and  love." 

The  Societies  may  not,  in  every  instance,  have  succeeded  ac- 
cording to  their  wishes;  but  if  any  of  their  Missionaries  have  be- 
trayed another  spirit,  they  have  not  failed  to  admonish  them,  and 
if  they  could  not  be  corrected,  would  certainly  recall  them.  The 
mildness  and  gentleness  of  Missionaries,  however,  does  not  require 
to  be  such  as  that  they  should  not  refute  and  expose  the  evils  of 
idolatry.  No  man  can  be  a  Missionary  who  is  not  allowed  to  do 
this.  This  has  been  always  done  by  Mr.  Schwartz  and  his  col- 
leagues, (whom  the  author  of  the  Letter  justly  praises,)  as  is  man- 
ifest from  their  communications  to  The  Society  for  Protnofing  Chris- 
tian Knoxoledge,dxiA  of  which  the  Society  have  approved  by  com- 
municating them  to  the  public. 

"  Mr.  Kolhoff,"  say  they,  in  his  intercourse  with  heathens, 
made  it  his  business  to  give  them  a  plain  and  comprehensive  view 
•  'all  the  truths  of  our  holy  religion,   and  to  prevail  upon  them  to 


i'ARl   lir.]  i  UK  CHRISTIAN   .NHSSIOXS.  3I5 

receive  tliein,  bij  representing  ihe  dbsurdity  and  sinfulness  of  their 
idol-i^-orsliij),  tlie  liiippiiic-s  uliich  ufiuUl  attend  their  obeiiietice 
to  the  truth,  <iiid  thtjnd^nicnta  to  w/iich  they  would  render  fliem- 
seliH'S  liable  by  a  i.untenipt  of  (he  onli/  true  Clod,  and  the  offers  of 
his  mercyy     Report  ot  I/!)!^,  \k  131. 

'I'liey  Jibo  tell  »i»i  ot'  Air.  Fohle,  another  ol  their  Missionaries, 
"  preaching  daily  the  prii)oiple?)  ol  Christianity  to  the  natives,  ol" 
•hflcrciit  telitcions,  and  especially  the  heathens,  refuting  at  the 
same  time  their  errors.'^  \  el  he  is  said  to  have  been  "heard 
with  joy  and  ainazenuMit.'"      Report  of  1796,  p.  129. 

The  rollowing  extract  of  Mr.  KolholF's  letter  ^vill  furtiish^n  apol- 
ojiy  for  their  eaiiiestnos-s,  to  tho?c  who  may  think  nothing  to  be 
proper  lint  simple  instruction. 

"  Resides  a  multiplicity  of  superior  deities,  the  heathens  in  this 
ronntry  have  a  great  nun)ber  u[  infernal  deities,  (ov  rather,  devils,) 
whom  they  likewise  make  objects  of  their  adoration.  The  wor- 
ship, or  service  done  to  these  internal  deities,  in  order  to  render 
them  propitions.  consists  in  ollering  them  sheep,  swine,  fowls, 
rice,  plantains,  and  intoxicatina;  liquors,  which  is  always  done 
either  in  a  ^^arden,  or  in  a  chapel  built  in  a  grove,  without  the  city 
or  village.  After  olTering  the  sacrifice,  the  priest,  with  the  peo- 
by  whom  the  sacrifice  is  brought,  sit  down  to  feast  themselves  on 
the  things  offered. 

♦•  Such  a  sacrifice  whs  olTered  by  some  heathens  in  the  month  of 
July  last,  near  a  village  twelve  miles  to  the  south  of  Tanjore. 
Having  ofl'ered  their  sacrifice,  they  sat  down  to  the  succeeding  en- 
tertainment, in  which  the  priest,  having  made  too  free  with  the  in- 
toxicating liquor,  very  soon  became  like  a  wild  beast,  and  murder- 
ed two  persons  who  were  near  him,  witli  the  instrument  with  which 
he  had  kiJIed  the  victims.  Others  endeavored  to  save  themselves 
by  flight,  but  he  pursued  after  them,  murdered  a  woman,  wound- 
ed six  others,  and  very  likely  would  have  proceeded  in  his  mur- 
derous business,  if  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  had  not  brought 
him  down  with  their  sticks,  and  disabled  him  from  doing  further 
mischief.  He  was  taken  a  prisoner  to  Tanjore,  and  died  in  his 
confinement,  of  the  wound  he  got  from  the  inhabitants.  Oh,  that 
the  heathens  would  open  their  eyes   to  see  the  dreadful  conse- 


316  AN  APOLOGY  |  Part  III, 

quence  of  forsaking  their  Maker,  and  doing  the  devil's  drudgery  !" 
Report  of  1798,  p.  132. 

"  I  believe,"  says  the  author  of  tlie  Letter  to  the  President  of 
the  Board  of  Control,  "  that  in  Bengal  the  matter  has  been  much 
the  same  as  on  the  Coast,  and  that  no  dissatisfaction  has,  for  per- 
haps a  century,  been  produced  by  the  preaching  of  the  Missiona- 
ries, Catholic  or  Protestant,  with  the  exception  of  only  a  recent 
instance  of  disgust,  very  naturally  excited  among  some  Hindoos, 
from  being  (if  I  am  rightly  informed  j  coarsely  reproached  by  some 
vulgar  zealot,  with  the  worship  of  murderers,  liars,  and  so  forth," 
(pp.  9, 10.) 

I  very  much  suspect  that  this  gentleman  has  been  misinformed, 
as  to  this  exception.  No  such  communication  has  reached  me; 
and  if  any  one  of  the  Missionaries  had,  by  the  use  of  such  lan- 
guage, excited  disgust,  1  thmk  either  myself,  or  some  other  mem- 
ber of  the  Society,  would  have  heard  of  it.  If  it  were  "jTacf,  and 
a  matter  of  notoriety  in  India,"  it  is  somewhat  extraordinary  that 
when,  on  account  of  the  alarms  produced  by  the  Vellore  mutiny, 
Mr.  Carey  and  his  colleagues  were  requested  to  desist  from  preach- 
ing to  the  natives,  the  magistrates  at  Calcutta,  who  delivered  that 
request,  should  have  made  no  mention  of  it ;  and  still  more  so  that 
they  should  have  declared  themselves  '  well  satisfied  with  their 
character  and  deportment,"  acknowledging  that  "  no  complain^ 
had  ever  been  lodged  against  them."  But  the  number  of  pri- 
vate reports  which  have  of  late  been  circuhited,  is  sufficient,  for  a 
time,  to  shake  the  confidence  even  of  those  who  are  friendly  to 
the  object.  We  can  only  repeat  what  we  have  said  before,  '  Let 
us  not  be  judged  by  private  letters  :  let  our  adversaries  come  for- 
ward and  accuse  the  Missionaries;  or  at  least  give  proof  of  their 
labour's  having  been  injurious.' 

There  is,  doubtless,  a  manner  of  represeisting  things  which  tends 
not  to  convince,  but  to  provoke.  If  any  thing  of  this  kuul  can  be 
proved  against  the  Missionaries,  we  shall  by  no  means  defend  it. 
To  charge  a  company  of  Hindoos  directly  with  the  worship  of  mur- 
derers, liars,  &c.  must  be  very  improper  ;  but  it  is  possible  for  a 
charge  of  this  kind  to  be  urged  in  a  less  offensive  manner.  Sup- 
posing  a  brahman  to  be  in  the  company,  and  that  in  encountering 


Takt  hi.]  FOll  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  3I- 

ihe  Missionary,  he  should  appeal  to  the  shatters  for  the  laufulnci"' 
of  idol  worship  ;  would  it  be  improper  for  the  Missionary  caiml\ 
to  prove  frotn  those  shastors  lh:it  the  very  gods  which  they  com- 
mand to  be  worshipped  are  there  described  as  the  most  vicioue 
characters  ?  This,  I  believe  has  been  done,  and  that  with  good 
effect.  Nor  did  1  ever  hoar  of  an  instance  of  any  Hindoo  being 
provoked  by  it,  except  the  brahmans,  who  were  thereby  confoun- 
ded before  the  people. 

With  respect  to  inculcating  '•  the  less  controverted  principles  of 
Christianity,"  1  do  not  believe  that  the  Missionaries  have  ever  so 
much  as  mentioned  to  the  converted  natives,  and  certainly  not  to 
the  unconverted,  any  of  the  controversies  of  the  European  Chris- 
tians. On  the  contrary,  they  tench  them  what  they  conceive  to 
be  simple  Christianity,  both  in  doctrine  and  practice  ;  and  were 
any  thing  like  a  disputatious  spirit  to  arise  among  them,  (which,  I 
believe  has  never  been  the  case,)  they  would  utterly  discourage  it. 

The  fears  which  this  writer  seems  to  entertain  of '' confounding 
the  people  with  a  variety  of  discordant  opinions  and  sects  ;"  arii  I 
trust,  without  foundation  :  but  as  1  shall  have  occasion  to  notice 
this  subject  more  particularly  in  the  next  article,  I  shall  here  pass 
It  by. 

What  this  author  means,  and  wlio  ho  can  refer  to,  by  "  church- 
es overflowing  with  converts,  who  do  no  honour  to  the  cause, 
but  serve  nUhcr  as  a  stumbling  block,  than  an  incitement 
to  the  conversion  of  others,"  1  know  not.  Major  Scott  War- 
ing,  in    his    third  pamphlet,    understands   him  as    agreeing  with 

him,  that  "  the  hundred  converts  made  in  thirteen  years  by  the 
Bengal  Misnionarics,  have  injured  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  In- 
dia." (p.  136.)  AAer  this,  I  must  say,  the  author  is  called  upon 
by  every  consideration  of  truth,  justice,  and  religion,  and  in  th^ 
name  of  each  1  hereby  call  upon  him,  through  some  public  medi- 
um, to  e.\plain  his  meaning.  The  accusations  of  Major  Scott  War- 
ing, and  his  associates,  reflect  no  dishonour ;  but  when  taken  up 
as  sober  truth  by  a  writer  w  ho  appears  to  be  not  only  a  man  of  ve- 
racity, but  friendly  to  religion,  they  become  of  consequence,  and 
require  to  be  either  substantiated  or  retracted. 


318         AN  APOLOGY  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  [Part  IU. 

We  may  hare  more  hope  in  the  conversion  of  the  Hindoos,  and 
consequently  more  zeal  than  this  author.  We  certainly  do  hope  by 
the  good  hand  of  God  upon  Qs,  to  produce  something  more  than 
merely  "  an  increased  esteem  for  Christianity"  among  the  heath- 
en :  but  so  far  as  his  advice  goes  to  recommend  temperate  men 
and  measures,  it  meets  our  cordial  approbation. 

The  writer  recommends  to  Government  that  "  the  number  of 
Missionaries  should  be  limited,  and  that  they  should  be  required 
to  enter  into  covenants  with  the  company,  calculated  to  insure 
their  prompt  obedience  to  the  restraints  which  it  may  be  found 
necessary  to  impose  upon  them."  It  is  possible  this  gentleman 
may  have  formed  his  idea  of  the  number  of  Missionaries  from  the 
reports  circulated  in  such  pamphlets  as  those  of  Major  Scot  War- 
ing, as  if  "a  great  number  of  sectarian  Missionaries  were  spread 
over  every  part  of  India."  If  he  had  known  that  this  great  num- 
ber does  not  exceed  sixteen  ;  and  that  the  greater  part  of  them 
reside  at  Serampore,  under  the  immediate  eye  of  the  supreme  gov- 
ernment, he  would  scarcely  have  thought  of  such  a  proposal.  As 
to  "  covenanting  with  the  Company,"  the  quotation  from  Mr. 
Marshman,*  proves  their  willingness  to  give  every  possible  secu- 
rity for  their  peaceable  and  good  behaviour. 

The  sum  of  this  gentleman's  advice  is,  that  that  "  with  the  grow- 
ing zeal  of  this  country  for  Indian  conversion,  the  vigilant  control 
of  the  India  Government  should  keep  pace."  A  vigilant  control 
and  a  syistem  of  intolerance  sound  very  much  alike.  I  hope,  how- 
ever, he  does  not  mean  such  control  as  would  impede  the  work  it- 
self: and  if  no  more  be  meant  than  a  restriction  from  intemperate 
language  and  behaviour,  such  restraints,  I  trust,  will  not  "  be  found 
necessary  to  be  imposed  upon  them." 

*  See  Pa/-,' I.  pp  2!i9. 290,of  this  voliinu. 


KKMAIIKS 


ON 


THE    PBOPRir.TV  OK   rONriNrN'i    MISSIOXARY  I'NDERT  \KINGS    TO  THt. 
FSTAliMSllKn    <  HIRt  H.     IN    ANSWl'R    TO    DK.     HAKUOW. 


I  AM  aware  that  on  this  p;irt  ot'the  subject  1  have  strong  prejii- 
lices  to  encounter,  especially  from  tho«e  who  know  little  or  noth- 
ing of  Protestant  Dissenters,  except  from  the  opprohrioas  name- 
given  tliem  by  their  adversaries. 

Of  an  Ecclesiastical  Establishment  for  India,  I  say  nothing.  Wc 
-<hall  rejoice  in  (lie  success  of  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  sincerity.  \Vht'thor  such  an  establishment  take  place,  or  not, 
I  am  persuaded  no  force  will  be  used  towards  the  natives  ;  and  I 
should  not  have  suspected  a  desire  to  exclude  Protestant  Dissen- 
ters, had  it  not  been  expressly  avowed  in  a  late  discourse  before 
one  of  our  Universities.*  There  are  thousands,  I  am  persuaded, 
m  the  National  Church,  who  would  utterly  disapprove  of  the  illib- 
eral wish,  and  whose  hearts  would  revolt  at  the  idea  of  recalling 
men  of  approved  talents  and  character,  who,  with  great  labour  and 
perseverance,  have  in  a  measure  cleared  the  ground  and  sown  the 
seed,  to  make  way  for  others  to  go  after  them  who  should  reap  the 
harvest.  Attached  as  they  are  to  the  Church  of  England,  they 
would  not  wi«h,  in  this  manner  to  promote  her  interests.  They 
would,  1  presume,  consider  such  a  measure  as  strictly  sectarian; 
that  is,  establishing  a  party  at  the  expense  of  the  general  interest 
of  the  church  of  Christ. 

•  See  Dr  Ciirniw'g  ?crmf>ii  b^'forc  the  University  of  Oxfonl,  Nov.  (t,   180T 


320  AX  APOLOGY  [Part  ill. 

But  should  Churchmen  of  this  ilescription  be  out-numbered  by 
others  ofa  different  mind,  we  appeal  from  them  to  the  temperance, 
the  wisdom,  and  the  justice  of  government.  A  Government  dis- 
tinguished by  its  tolerant  principles,  and  which  guards  the  rights 
of  conscience  even  in  Mahometans  and  heathens,  will  not  we  trust, 
exclude  Protestant  Dissenting  Missionaries  from  any  of  its  territo- 
ries, especially  men  of  learning  and  character,  against  whom  not  a 
single  charge  of  improper  conduct  has  ever  been  substantiated. 

Dr.  Barrow  says  "  Missionaries  of  various  interests,  or  parties; 
ignorantly  or  wilfully  differing  in  their  comments,  their  opinions, 
and  their  designs,  should  not  be  suffered  to  appear  amongst  those 
whom  w8  wish  to  convert."  Surely  Dr.  Barrow  might  have  sup- 
posed, from  the  disinterested  labours  of  these  Missionaries,  and 
from  the  good  understanding  which  they  have  always  endeavoured 
to  cultivate  with  Christians  of  other  denominations,  that  they  had 
no  "  design"  in  view  but  that  of  extending  the  Christian  religion; 
but  that  if  they  differ  from  him, or  others,  in  some  particulars,  it 
may  arise  from  othercauses  than  either  ignorance  or  obstinacy. 

He  adds,  "  If  we  permit  the  ministers  of  various  sects  and  de- 
nominations, Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  Armenians  and  Baptists,  to 
inculcate  their  respective  tenets  without  restraint,  the  unlettered 
Indian,  will  not  be  able  to  determine  what  that  Christianity  is 
which  we  would  persuade  him  to  embrace  ;  and  the  more  learned 
convinced  that  the  doctrines  of  all  our  teachers  cannot  be  equal- 
ly true,  may  be  led  to  conclude  that  all  are  equally  false." 
Plausible  as  this  reasoning  may  appear  on  paper,  experience 
and  fiict  are  against  it.  There  never  has  been  and  I  trust 
never  will  be,  such  an  opposition  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Mis- 
sionaries as  to  furnish  any  stumbling-block  to  the  natives.  Ac- 
cording to  the  reasoning  of  this  gentleman,  if  the  Society  for  Pro- 
moting Christian  Knowledge  had  sent  out  ati  English  Clergyman 
«is  a  Missionary  to  India,  they  must  at  the  same  time  have  recalled 
Schwartz,  Gericke,  and  their  fellow  labourers,  as  being  "  Luther- 
ans." 

The  errors  which  exist  in  the  Christian  world,  to  whomsoever 
they  belong,  are  doubtless  an  evil,  and  tend  to  obstruct  the  prog- 
ress of  the  gospel.  Could  we  be  all  of  one  mind,  and  that  the 
mind  of  Christ,  we  might  hope  for  greater  success  ;  but  seeing 


rARTlll.J  FOIl  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  30] 

tliis  is  not  the  case,  what  are  we  to  do  ?  Surely  there  is  no  neces- 
sity for  our  all  sitting  idle  ;  nor  yet  for  one  party,  wliich  happen? 
to  be  established  by  civil  authority,  to  exclude  the  rest. 

Let  us  suppose  an  agricultural  miS!yion  amon<;  the  American  lii- 
dinns.  Fifteen  or  «ixtoon  exporiem-ed  farmers  are  sent  to  teach 
the  people  how  to  cultivate  their  lands.  After  a  few  years'  trial, 
some  good  fruits  arise  from  their  instructions.  But  a  certain  the- 
orist, sitting  at  home,  finds  out  that  these  men  are  not  all  perfectly 
of  one  opinion  as  to  the  best  modes  of  husbandry  :  and  therefore 
proposes  to  recall  them,  and  tosend  others  in  their  place.  Common 
eense  would,  in  this  case,  check  the  presumption.  It  would  say, 
*  Let  these  men  alone.  There  is  no  such  difference  between, 
them  as  materially  to  affect  the  object.  There  is  room  enough  for 
them  all,  so  that  no  one  will  need  to  interfere  with  his  neighbour 
Even  the  less  skilful  among  them  will  do  good,  perhaps  as  much  a? 
those  whom  you  would  send  in  their  place,  and  who,  after  all 
might  be  as  far  from  unanimity  as  they  are.' 

Such  is  the  extent  of  the  British  empire  in  the  East,  that  if  we 
could  divest  ourseh'^s  of  the  sectarian  spirit  of"  desiring  to  boast 
of  other  men's  labours,  no  two  denominations  of  Christians  need 
interfere,  and  all  might  be  helpers  one  of  another.  But  though  it 
were  otherwise,  and  the  evils  alleged  were  allowed  to  arise  from 
it,  yet  the  measures  proposed  by  this  writer  would  not  diminish 
them.  It  is  by  subscribing  "  the  creed  of  the  National  Church" 
that  he  wishes  all  who  engage  in  this  work  to  be  united  :  but  the 
unanimity  produced  by  subscribing  a  creed,  however  good  that 
creed  may  be,  is  little  more  than  nominal,  and  therefore  could 
have  no  good  efTeci  on  thinking  heathens.  They  would  soon  dis- 
cover that  there  had  been  almost  as  many  different  "  comments 
and  opinions"  about  the  meaning  of  the  creed,  as  about  the  scrip- 
tures themselves  ;  and  that  as  great  an  o])poRition  existed  among 
those  who  had  subscribed  it,  as  between  them  and  others  who  had 
not  subscribed  it. 

The  truth  is.  if  we  wish  to  convert  heathens  to  ourselves,  we 
must  do  as  the  Church  of  Rome  does,  set  up  for  infallibility,  and 
withhold  the  scriptures  from  the  people,  lest  they  should  read  and 
judge  for  themselves.     But  if  we  wish  to  convert  them  to  Christ 

Vol.  in.  41 


322  AN  APOLOG\  [Fart  III. 

we  shall  put  the  scriptures  into  their  h-mclsj  as  the  only  standard  of 
truth,  and  teach  them  to  consider  all  other  writings  as  in  no  wise 
binding  on  their  consciences,  nor  even  as  claiming  regard,  any  far- 
ther than  they  agree  with  them.  By  this  rule  let  them  form  their 
judgments  of  us,  and  of  our  differences,  should  they  deem  it 
worth  while  to  inquire  into  them  ;  but  the  aim  of  a  true  Mission- 
ary will  ever  be  to  divert  their  attention  from  such  things,  and  to 
direct  it  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

It  cannot  be  very  marvellous  to  them,  that  fallible  men  should 
not  be  perfectly  of  one  mind.  Whether  they  be  Pagans  or  Ma- 
hometans, they  know  very  well  that  this  is  not  the  case  with  them  ; 
and  though  the  Christian  religion  professes  to  contain  one  consis- 
tent doctrine,  yet  it  were  highly  presumptuous  to  encourage  in 
them  the  hope  of  finding  this  any  where  in  perfection,  save  in  the 
holy  scriptures.  However  proper  it  may  be  for  a  church  to  ex- 
press the  leading  articles  of  its  faith  in  a  creed,  yet  to  make  that 
creed  "  A  rule  of  conduct,  and  a   standard    of    truth,  to 

WHICH    APPEALS  IN    DOUBT    AND  CONTROVERSY  ARE    TO    BE    MADE," 

is  to  invade  the  divine  prerogative,  and  to  make  void  the  word  of 
God  by  our  traditions.  I  have  too  high  an  opinion  of  the  Reform- 
ers to  suppose  that  they  ever  intended  a  composition  of  theirs  to 
take  j)>ace  of  the  oracles  of  God.  Should  such  an  idea  be  held 
up  to  the  Hindoos  as  that  which  was  delivered  in  this  sermon,  it 
were  indeed  to  cast  a  stumbling  block  in  their  way  :  but  if  we  be 
contented  in  giving  them  the  word  of  God  as  the  only  standard  of 
faith  and  practice,  and  in  being  ourselves,  in  all  we  say  or  do 
among  them,  measured  by  it,  no  material  evil  will  arise  to  them 
from  our  differences. 

To  this  may  be  added,  if  no  great  temptations  of  a  worldly  na- 
ture be  held  up  as  motives,  it  may  be  presumed  that  few  will  en- 
gage in  the  work  but  those  whom  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  : 
but  between  such  men  the  differences  will  not  be  very  important  ; 
and  as  they  know  one  another,  those  differences  may  be  expected 
to  diminish. 

Dr.  Barrow  recommends  "  one  uniform  and  general  attempt, 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  where  we  have  the  power  to  exclude 


Pari- 111.]  FOR  CHIUSTIAN  MISSION'S.  303 

them,  to  be  iiiiule  hy  the  ministers  of  the  Nation:il  Church,  under 
the  authority  and  regulations  of  an  act  of  the  Legislature." 

And  liow  many  inini>iters  of  the  National  Church  does  Dr.  Bar- 
row think  would  engage  in  this  underUiking  ?  if  there  be  a  suf- 
ficient number  to  justify  his  proposal,  why  do  they  not  supply  the 
Episcopnl  mission  on  the  Coast  of  Coromandel  ?  The  worthy  suc- 
cessors of  Schwartz  have  long  proclaimed  the  harvest  in  India  to 
be  great,  and  the  labourers  to  be  few.  Scarcely  a  Report  of  the 
Society  for  I'romotins;  Christian  Knowledge  has  appeared  since 
the  death  of  that  great  man,  without  calling  out  for  more  Mission- 
aries. 

"Mr.  Gericke,"  says  the  Society,  "  laments  the  want  of  more 
assistance  at  Tanjore.  How  happy  a  thing,  he  observes,  would  it 
be  if  God  were  to  furnish  a  faithful  Missionary  for  the  assistance 
of  Mr.  Kolhoff,  and  another  or  two  for  the  congregations  south- 
ward of  Tanjore.  It  is  delightful  to  see  the  growth  of  the  Tan^ 
jore  mission,  and  the  southern  congregations  dependent  on  it.  The 
inhabitants  of  whole  villages  flock  to  if.  What  a  pity  that  there 
arc  not  labourers  for  such  a  delightful  harvest !  At  Jaffna,  and  all 
the  coast  of  Ceylon,  there  is  another  great  harvest.  We  have 
sent  such  of  our  native  catechists  as  could  be  spared  :  but  many 
are  required  for  that  extensive  work." 

Such  was  the  report  in  1803  ;  and  did  any  of  the  ministers  of 
the  National  Church  offer  themselves  for  the  service  ?  I  believe 
not  ;  but  we  are  told  that  "  applications  had  been  repeatedly  made 
to  the  professors  at  Halle  in  Saxony,  to  furnish  the  Society  with 
some  new  Missionaries." 

The  Report  in  1804,  among  other  things,  gives  the  cheering  in- 
telligence of  "  the  inhabitants  of  four  villages  being  unanimous  in 
their  resolution  of  embracing  the  Christian  faith  ;  and  of  their 
having  put  away  their  idols,  and  converted  their  temples  into 
Christian  Churches."  It  is  added  by  Mr.  Gericke,  "  It  seems 
that  if  we  had  fiilhful  and  discreet  labourers  for  the  vineyard 
of  the  Protestant  mission  on  this  coast,  to  send  wherever  a  door 
is  opened  unto  us,  rapid  would  be  the  progress  of  llie  gospel." 

The  following  is  the  answer  which  the  Society  was  enabled  to 
make  to  the^e   solemn  and  impre«sivo  rall«  :  "  It  is  with  concern 


324  AN  APOLOGY  [Part  HI. 

that  the  Society  still  has  to  report  that  no  new  suitable  supplies  of 
new  Missionaries  have  yet  been  heard  of,  to  succeed  the  good 
men  who  have  tinished  their  course." 

If  we  look  to  the  next  year,  1805,  we  tind  "  The  Society  can- 
not yet  report  that  any  new  3Iissiouaries  have  been  engaged  in  Eu- 
rope to  carry  on  the  work  of  promoting  Christian  knowledge  in 
the  East  Indies,  although  many  efforts  have  been  used  to  find  out 
suitable  persons  to  be  employed  in  this  labour  of  love." 

In  the  Report  of  1806,  the  complaints  are  repeated  ;  but  no 
mention  is  yet  made  of  any  new  Missionaries  ;  and  none  in  that 
of  1807,  just  published. 

I  do  not  reflect  upon  the  English  Clergy.  There  are  many 
among  them  who,  1  am  persuaded,  would  willingly  engage  in  any 
service  .which  appeared  to  be  their  duty  ;  but  who,  from  the  pur- 
est motives,  might  consider  themselves  called  to  labour  in  another 
quarter.  Neither  do  1  reflect  upon  the  Society  :  for  how  can 
they  send  out  Missionaries  till  there  are  Missionaries  to  be  sent  ? 
I  only  ask,  how  could  Dr.  Barrow,  with  these  facts  before  his  eyes, 
preach  and  write  as  he  did  ?  How  could  he  purpose  to  take  the 
whole  work  of  evangelizing  India  into  the  hands  of  the  ministers 
of  the  National  Church,  when  that  part  of  it  which  had  a  spe- 
cial claim  upon  them  was  known  to  be  standing  still,  in  a  manner, 
for  want  oi"  assistance  ? 

Let  there  be  what  excellence  there  may  in  the  Established 
Church,  (and  far  be  it  from  me  to  wish  to  depreciate  it,)  it  is  not 
from  thence  exclusively  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  accorapiish- 
raent  of  this  work.  To  furnish  a  sufficient  number  of  suita- 
ble men  for  so  great  an  undertaking,  is  not  in  the  power  of  any 
one  denomination,  established  or  nnast^blished;  nor,  as  I  suspect, 
of  the  friends  of  Christianity  in  all  of  them  united;  but  if,  like  her 
that  anointed  the  Lord's  feet,  we  do  what  we  can,  we  shall  be  ap- 
proved. 

For  many  ministers  and  members  of  the  Established  Church  1 
feel  a  most  sincere  regard;  and  sorry  should  I  be  to  wound  their 
feelings.  It  is  a  circumstance  that  has  afforded  me  pleasure  in  this 
otherwise  disagreeable  controversy,  that  its  tendency  is  to  unite 
the  friends  of  Christianity  in  a  common  cause.     If,  in  my  remarks 


I'ARTlU.I  FOIl  CHIIISTIAN  MISSIONS.  30J 

on  the  Episcopal  Mission  in  the  East,  I  have  seemed  to  interfere 
in  concerns  u  liich  do  not  immediately  belong  to  me,  it  is  because  I 
have  found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  repel  the  propositions  of  a 
writer,  whose  avowed  intolkrance  knows  no  limits  but  thk 

WANT  OF  rOWER  ! 

Whatever  this  gentleman  may  allege  in  behalf  of  "one  uniform 
and  general  attempt,  to  be  made  by  the  ministers  of  the  National 
Church  exclusively,"  the  Sockty  for  Vruinotin^  Christian  Knowl- 
edge cannot,  with  any  consistency,  second  the  motion.  They 
must  know  tl)at  such  a  jiroposal,  whatever  it  may  appear  on  paper, 
could  not  be  reduced  to  practice.  And  surely  it  is  not  too  much 
to  infer,  that  if  it  be  right  and  desirable  to  introduce  Christianity 
among  the  Hindoos,  others  should  be  allowed  to  take  part  in  the 
work  as  well  as  they,  especially  as  there  is  no  desire  of  interfering 
in  any  of  their  labours.  Let  the  Church  of  England  do  what  it 
can.  Let  it  send  out  ministers  who  are  willing  to  spend  and  be 
spent  in  the  work,  and  we  with  all  our  hearts  shall  pray  for  their  suc- 
cess._  From  Missionaries  of  this  description  we  should  have  no  ap- 
])rehonsions.  Such  men  would  not  wish  to  *'  exclude"  those  who 
are  already  employed,  whether  they  could  fully  accord  with  them, 
or  not.  Their  language  would  be,  Let  there  be  no  strife  between 
us,  for  we  are  brethren  !  Is  not  tfte  whole  land  before  us  ?  If  you 
will  go  to  the  left  hand,  then  we  icill  take  the  right;  or  if  you  depart 
to  the  right  hand,  we  will  go  to  the  left.  Nay,  more  ;  their  lan- 
guage already  is,  "  God  bless  all  missionary  institutions  ! 
Mav  the  work  of  god  prosper  in  all  their  hands!"* 

For  our  part?,  observing  of  late  that  Christianity  itself  w.ns  pow- 
erfully assailed,  we  have,  in  a  manner,  laid  aside  inferior  objects, 
and  made  common  cause  with  the  Christian  world.  V\'e  have  been 
less  attentive  to  the  things  in  which  we  iliifer  from  otiier  Christians, 
than  to  those  wherein  we  are  agreed;  and  to  the  best  of  our  abili- 
ties have  joined  with  them  in  defending  the  common  faith.  Our 
zeal  has  not  been  expendei!  in  making  proselytes  to  a  party,  but 
in  turning  sinners  to  God  through   Jesus   Christ.     It  was  in  pur- 

♦  See  the  Rev.  Basil  Wood's  Sermon,  prefixed  to  (he  last  Report  of  the 
Committee  of  ttie  Society  for  Missions  to  Afrif-a  and  the  East.  pp.  175 — 17P. 


326  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.        [Part  III. 

suit  of  this  object  that  we  first  engaged  in  Missionary  undertakings. 
We  had  no  interest  to  serve  but  that  of  Christ.  It  was  in  our 
hearts  to  do  something  for  his  Name  among  the  heathen;  and  if  it 
might  be,  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  his  kingdom.  Such  also  we 
know  (as  far  as  men  can  know  each  other,)  were  the  motives  of 
our  brethren,  the  Missionaries.  And  now  that  it  hath  pleased 
God  in  some  measure  to  prosper  our  way,  it  is  our  humble,  re- 
spectful, and  most  earnest  entreaty hinder  us  not  ! 

We  ask  not  for  any  temporal  advantage,  any  participation  in 
trade,  any  share  of  power,  any  stations  of  honour,  or  any  assistance 
from  Government:  we  ask  merely  for  permission  to  expend  such 
sums  of  money  as  may  be  furnished  by  the  liberality  of  Christians, 
earned  chiefly  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow,  in  imparting  the  word  of 
life  to  our  fellow-subjects  in  Hindostan. 


APPIADJX. 


Extracts  of  a  Letter  fro/n  Lieutenant -Colonel  Sandys,  who,  after 
twenty-two  years  nervice  in  India,  returned  in  1804;  in  answer 
to  one  addressed  to  him  xincc  the  veracity  of  the  Missionaries 
has  been  called  in  question  by  Major  Scott  Waring. 

"  From  my  acquaintance  with  Messrs.  Carey,  Ward,  Marsh- 
man',  &c.  before  I  left  India,  I  feel  a  repugnance  to  answer  the 
question  on  their  veracity.  I  can  believe  that,  as  all  men  are  fal- 
lible, they,  in  some  of  their  impressions  and  relations,  ma} 
have  been  mi'^taken:  but  as  to  their  veracity,  I  do  not,  cannot, 
dare  not  doubt  it.  1  can  also  rculily  conceive  that  a  common  vil- 
lage tumult  in  India  may  in  England  be  considered  as  a  very  seri- 
ous affair:  but  an  English  mob  and  an  Indian  mob  are  very  differ- 
ent things.  A  Missionary  may  go  with  a  small  boat,  thirt}'  or  forty 
miles  to  a  village  market,  sit  down,  converse,  and  afterwards 
preach.  Perhaps  some  brahman  will  oppose  him.  This  intro- 
duces the  Hindoo  idolatry;  and  while  he  remains  calm,  they  will 
become  vociferous.  As  he  proceeds  to  his  boat,  the  boys  may  be 
encouraged  to  throw  mud'  at  him;  but  no  personal  injur}'  follows; 
and  the  JMissionary,  as  he  is  going  away,  may  be  asked  by  a  villa- 
ger when  he  will  come  again,  and  hold  conversation  with  his  brah- 
man: but  this  is  all. 

"Having  served  at  different  times  in  various  staff  department? 
of  the  army,  particularly  in  Mysore,  under  the  Marquis  Cornwal- 
lis,  1  had  a  great  variety  of  people,  of  different  casts,  under  my 
direction,  and  had  full  opportunity  of  observing  their  customs  and 
manners. 

•'  I  never  heard  of  any  thing  worthy  of  being  called  a  tumult  or 
disturbance  occasioned  by  the  Missionaries  while  I  was  in  India, 
which  I  think  I  should,  if  there  had  been  any  ;  and  I  do  not  believe 


328  AN   AhOLOGY  [Fart  III. 

that  any  ol' their  addresses  to  the  natives,  either  in  words  or  vvri 
ting,  would  produce  any  serious  effect  of  the  liind,  provided  there 
were  no  actual  interruption  of  their  customs.  At  the  encampment 
near  Surat,  a  Bengal  brahman  seapoy  (a  soldier  of  the  priest 
order)  went  to  the  river  to  perform  his  ablutions,  and  to  say  his 
prayers,  according  to  custom  in  the  water.  Another  seapoy, 
of  the  Bombay  establistiment,  going  into  the  stream  before  him,  at 
the  same  time,  and  for  the  same  purpose,  mudded  the  water.  As 
soon  as  the  brahman  perceived  it,  he  instantly  left  the  river,  and 
ran  to  his  battalion,  calling  out  that  he  was  contaminated,  and  had 
lost  his  cast.  The  respective  battalions  to  which  the  parties  be- 
longed immediately  took  arms  ;  and  had  not  their  officers  exerted 
themselves  with  great  energy  and  prudence,  the  consequence 
must  have  been  dreadful  :  but  through  their  inlerterence  the  bu- 
siness was  settled. — The  Bombay  seapoy  might  have  said  what  he 
pleased  to  the  brahman,  standing  on  the  bank.  He  might  have  in- 
veighed against  him  in  the  most  bitter  terms,  and  told  him  that  his 
cast  was  better  than  his  :  the  brahman,  I  believe,  would  have 
returned  only  a  smile  of  contempt,  it  is  not  talking  to  them,  or 
endeavouring  to  persuade  them,  but  actual  interference  that  will 
excite  mutiny  and  disaffection.  In  ail  the  inctances  of  dissatisfac- 
tion, that  I  remember,  this  has  been  the  case. 

"  A  little  before  my  return,  I  and  some  others  were  in  company 
with  a  Christian  native,  called  Petumber  a  very  eloquent  man. 
He  told  us  that  he  had,  in  preaching  to  his  countrymen,  occasion- 
ally met  with  abuse,  but  that  in  general  they  heard  him  with  at- 
tention. In  crossing  a  river,  he  said,  he  passed  one  of  his  old  ac- 
quaintances, a  brahman,  who  was  washing  and  praying  to  his  gods, 
to  whom  he  spoke  of  the  absurdity  of  his  worship.  The  brahman 
only  pitied  him,  and  told  him  that  with  his  cast  he  had  lost  his  sen- 
ses. Thus  they  parted,  without  any  thing  like  anger  on  either 
side  :  but  had  Petumber  passed  the  stream  above  him,  religious 
hatred  and  revenge  would  have  followed.  As  to  talking  about  re- 
ligion, they  are  fond  of  it  :  it  is  only  when  they  are  interrupted  or 
contaminated  that  they  are  seriously  offended." 


Part  IIl.J  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  339 

ExCracts  of  a  Letter  from  William  CvaiNoiiAME,  Esq.  late  Assist- 
ant Judge  at  Dinagepore,  on  the  same  occasion  as  the  above. 

"Ik  Mr.  Carey  be  accused  of  false  hood,  and  I  were  called  upon 
to  state  what  I  think  of  this  charge,  my  sensations  respecting  it 
would  be  those  of  any  ingenuous  person  well  acquainted  with  the 
great  Howard,  had  he  been  called  upon  to  vindicate  that  philan- 
thropist from  the  charj^e  of  inhitinaniti/.  I  am  as  well  convinced 
as  I  can  be  of  any  tiiin;;  which  is  not  the  subject  of  consciousness, 
that  Mr.  Carey  is  totally  incapable  of  being  guilty  of  any  fdsehood 
or  misrepresentation  whatever. 

"  During  tlie  last  two  years  of  Mr.  Carey's  residence  in  the  Di- 
nagepore  district,  he  was  well  known,  not  only  to  me,  but  to  all 
the  gentlemen  in  the  Company's  Civil  service  in  that  station.  He 
possessed,  I  can  safely  say,  the  cordial  friendship  of  some,  and  the 
^ood  opiuion  of  all. 

"  In  particular,  1  know,  that  the  gentleman  who  licld  the  office 
of  judge  and  Magistrate  of  that  large  and  important  district  had  a 
very  high  esteem  and  respect  for  Mr.  Carey's  character,  whicfi 
he  showed  by  every  proper  mark  of  polite  attention.  And  of 
that  gentleman,  the  unspotted  integrity  and  the  merits,  as  a  pub- 
lic servant,  arc  well  known,  and  have,  I  believe  been  acknowl- 
edged by  every  successive  government  of  Bengal,  fVom  Lord 
Cornwallis's  to  Sir  George  Barlow's.  While  Mr.  Carey  resided 
in  the  above  district,  his  conduct  was  uniformly  quiet  and  irrep- 
rehcnsible  ;  ami  iiad  it  been  otherwise,  1,  from  my  situation  as 
Register  of  the  civil  Court  of  Dinagepore,  and  Assistant  to  the 
Magistrate,  must  iiave  kiu'wn  of  it. 

"After  I  qiiin<-d  Dinagepore  in  1801,  my  personal  intercourse 
with  Mr.  Carey  became  more  frequent.  1  had  also  an  opportu- 
nity of  becoming  well  acquainted  wjth  Mr.  Ward,  and  knew  Mr. 
Marshman,  tliough  from  this  last  gentleman's  being  more  confined 
by  his  duties  as  a  school-master,  1  seldom  saw  him. 

"  I  shall  say  nothing  of  Mr.  Carey's  religion,  because  it  is  not 
that  which  is  the  subject  of  dispute  :  but  I  will  say,  that  the  unaf- 
fected simplicity  of  his  manners,  the  modesty  of  his  demeanour, 

Vor.  III.  \9 


330  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.      [Part  III- 

his  good  sense  and  information,  his  unwearied  industry,  and  the 
general  excellence  of  his  character,  did,  as  far  as  I  had  any  op- 
portunity of  observing,  procure  to  him  the  esteem  of  all  those 
Europeans  to  whom  he  was  known. 

"  I  also  frequently  conversed  with  Hindoo  and  Mahomedan  na- 
tives, rather  of  the  better  sort,  upon  the  subject  of  Christianity 
and  the  probable  success  of  the  mission,  and  they  generally  dis- 
cussed these  thirgs  with  much  freedom.  As  far  as  I  can  recollect, 
I  never  in  any  conversation  of  this  kind  heard  Mr.  Carey,  or  any 
of  the  other  Missionaries,  mentioned  with  disrespect.  On  the 
contrary  I  believe  their  characters  were  highly  respected  even  by 
the  natives,  who,  vVith  all  their  faults,  generally  form  pretty  just 
estimates  of  the  characters  of  Europeans  who  reside  among  them, 
and  are  by  no  means  backward  in  giving  their  sentiments  there- 
upon. 

"  Though  I  did  not  personally  know  the  native  converts,  I  can 
safely  affirm,  from  my  acquaintance  with  the  character  of  the  Mis- 
sionaries, that  their  testimony  respecting  those  converts  ought  to 
be  received,  and  that  full  credit  should  be  attached  to  it.  It  is  a 
most  unfounded  calumny  to  assert  that  the  Missionaries  have  re- 
ceived immoral  characters,  knowing  them  to  be  such,  into  the 
church.     I  am  certain  thev  would  receive  no  such  characters.'" 


nil. 


PRINCIPLES 


PETITIONERS  TO  PARLIAMENT 


RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION  IN  INDIA 


A  LETTER  TO 


JOHN  WEYLAND,  Jun.  Esq. 


OCCASIONED 


BY  HIS  LETTER  TO  SIR  HUGH  INGLIS,  BART 


STATE  OF  RELIGION  IN  INDIA 


PKIXCIPLES  OK  THE  PETITIONERS,*  &c. 


Sir, 

I  HAVE  read  with  interest  your  Letter  addressed  to  Sir  Hugb 
Inglis,  Bart.  "  On  the  State  of  Religion  in  India."  Having  been 
for  twenty  years  past  the  Secretary  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety, the  Society  which  sent  out  the  present  Dr.  Carey  and  his 
colleagues,  it  is  natural  that  I  should  be  interested  in  whatever 
may  aflect  the  important  question  now  pending  in  parliament. 

The  dispassionate,  candid,  and  for  the  most  part  judicious  straitj 
in  which  you  have  written.  Sir,  deserves  acknowledgment.  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying,  it  appears  to  me  to  come  nearer  the  point 
at  issue  than  any  thing  that  I  have  met  with. 

Those  gentlemen  who  a«sert  th  U,  "  as  the  Hindoos  and  the 
Christians  worship  one  great  Creator,  it  is  indifferent  whether  the 
adoration  be  offered  to  him  through  the  pure  medium  of  Christian- 
ity, or  through  the  bloody  and  obscene  rites  of  the  Indian  idola- 
try," you  very  properly  deem  incompetent  to  judge  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  British  Legislature  I  trust  will  never  so  dishonour  itself 
as  to  entertain  the  question  whether  the  Christian  religion  be  pre- 
ferable to  that  of  Juggernaut. 

As  to  what  you  have  written.  Sir,  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Establish- 
ment, that  ir<  not  my  immediate  concern;  but  if  it  be  so  conducted 
as  to  "  take  a  share  in  the  conversion  of  the  heathen,"  and  do  not 

*  By  the  title  given  to  these  pages,  the  author  means  no  more  than  to  ex- 
press his  own  principles,  ami  what  he  conceives  to  be  the  principles  of  the  pe- 
titioners in  general.  Having  observctl,  by  conversing  with  several  gentle- 
men, that  the  object  of  the  petitions  was  undcrstooil  lo  bo  something  incom 
patibic  with  the  security  of  Government,  he  wished,  as  lar  as  he  was  able,  to 
remove  tiiofe  impre««inr«.  and  to  pive  a  true  "tatemmt  of  wlint  he  conceived 
'o  be  Ihrir  object 


334  '^  LETTER  TO 

interfere  with  the  labours  of  those  who  are  unconnected  with  it, 
it  will  be  entitled  to  our  Christian  regar.ls,  no  less  than  our  under- 
takings are  to  those  of  modern  Episcopalains.  The  efforts  of  indi- 
viduals and  societies  unconnected  with  the  Establishment,  are 
those  which  immediate!}'  concern  me,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
the  petitioners. 

Many  of  your  remarks,  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  Sir,  are  can- 
did and  liberal.  Your  short  and  conclusive  proof  that  "  no  danger 
is  to  be  apprehended  from  these  efforts,  because  no  danger  ever 
has  arisen;  though  the  practice  has  been  going  on  for  centuries, 
and  during  the  period  many  thousands  of  natives  have  been  con- 
verted," must  approve  itself  to  every  candid  and  enlightened  leg- 
islator. 

It  is  here,  Sir,  that  I  wish  to  offer  a  few  remarks  on  your  pro- 
posed regulations,  and  to  state  what  I  consider  as  the  principles  of 
the  general  body  of  the  petitioners. 

In  order  to  be  a  competent  j'J.lge  of  the  question  at  issue  you 
reckon  a  man  must  be  "  free  from  enthusiasm,  either  for  or  against 
Christianity."  You  do  not  mean  by  ihis  that  he  should  be  "  de- 
ticient  in  a  warmth  of  gralituda  for  the  benefits  of  Christianity;" 
but  merely  that,  while  he  engages  in  real  earnest  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel,  he  is  not  to  be  regardless  of  good  sense,  and 
sound  discretion.  That  there  are  enthusiasts  of  this  description  is 
very  possible;  but  1  hope  to  be  believed,  when  I  say  that,  of  all 
the  persons  I  have  conversed  with  on  the  subject,  I  have  never 
met  with  such  an  one.  Persons  whose  principal  attention  is  turn- 
ed to  the  conversion  of  the  heathen,  and  who  are  but  little  ac- 
quainted with  its  political  bearings,  may  dwell  more  on  the  former, 
and  less  on  the  latter;  but  1  never  heard  such  an  idea  as  this  sug- 
gested, that  "■  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  pour  into  India  all  the  evan- 
gelical knowledge  and  zeal  we  can  export,  and  leave  the  result  to 
Providence."  Many  of  the  petitions  have  expressed  a  wish  for  all 
prudent  andpeaceable  means  to  be  used;  and  where  this  has  not  been 
expressed,  I  believe  it  has  been  invariably  understood.  It  is  not 
to  prudence,  Sir,  that  the  petitioners  have  any  objection;  but 
merely  to  that  species  of  prudence  that  would  not  scruple  to  subject) 
nor  even  to  sacrifice  Christianity  to  political  expediency.     Ought  a 


JOHN  WEYLAND,  Jvs.  Esa.  335 

nation.  Sir,  to  set  up  its  power  and  temporal  prosperity  as  the  su- 
preme end,  and  to  require  that  nothing  be  done  within  the  sphere 
of  its  influence,  but  what  appears  consistent  with,  if  not  calcuhted 
to  promote,  this  end.  Is  not  this  to  sit  in  the  seal  nj'  God?  See 
Ezek.  xxviii.  1  — 10. 

Dr.  Carey  and  his  colleagues,  Sir,  are  acknowledged  by  Mar- 
quis W'ellcsley,  (in  a  late  speech,  said  to  have  been  delivered  in 
the  House  of  Lords.)  to  be  '■'quiet,  prudent,  discreet,  orderly  and 
learned  men ;''  yet  no  men  on  earth  are  farther  frotn  admitting 
such  a  principle  as  the  above  than  they.  We  may  be  prudent 
without  being  irreligious.  Dr.  Marshman  has  proved,  that  if  the 
British  Government  be  friendly  to  Christianity,  it  will  by  this  in- 
jure its  own  prosperity  :  for  "  whatever  is  right  is  wise  :"  but  to 
befriend  Christianity  itself  in  subserviency  to  our  worldly  interest 
were  to  turn  that  which  is  good  unto  evil,  and  instead  of  "  placing 
us  under  the  divine  protection,"  might  be  expected  to  procure 
our  overthrow.  If  God  be  what  we  are  in  the  habit  of  calling 
him,  the  Supreme  Being,  ho  must  be  treated  as  supreme,  or  we 
cannot  hope  for  his  blessing. 

Vou  allege,  that  "  the  ultimate  conversion  of  these  heathens  de- 
pends, under  God,  upon  the  duration  of  the  British  dominion." 
That  the  British  dominion  may  be  the  appoin'.ed  mean  of  enlight- 
ening the  eastern  world,  as  the  Roman  dominion  was  of  enlighten- 
ing Britain,  is  reailily  admitted.  This  may  be  the  design  of  Prov- 
idence in  connecting  them.  It  is  also  allowed  that  on  the  suppo- 
sition of  British  dominion  being  used  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  the  natives,  its  duration  is  very  desirable,  and  must 
needs  be  desired  by  the  friends  of  Christianity  :  but  1  cannot  allow 
the  prevalence  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  to  depend  on  the  duration 
of  o?jy  earthly  government.  The  duration  of  a  government  may 
depend  upon  its  befriending  the  kingdom  of  Christ;  but  if  it  refuse 
to  do  this,  deliverance  will  arise  from  another  quarter.  The  great 
system  ofGod,  as  revealed  in  the  prophecy,  will  be  accomplished  : 
the  nation  and  kingdom  that  refuses  to  serve  him  shall  perish. 

I  am  persuaded,  Sir,  that  you  have  no  intention  to  reduce  Chris- 
tianity to  a  state  of  mere  subserviency  to  civil  policy,  and  that  if 
vou   perceived  thi«  consequence  to  be  involved   in  any  thing  yon 


33G  A  LETTER  TO 

had  advanced,  you  would  retract  it.  "  I  do  certainly,"  you  say, 
"go  a  little  beyond  Machiavel,"  who  was  for  holding  religion 
in  veneration  as  the  means  of  preserving  government.  Yet 
you  speak  of  our  being  "  bound  as  a  Christian  country  to  impart 
the  blessings  of  Christianity,  only  so  far  as  it  can  he.  done  7cith  safeti/ 
to  our  dominion.''''  Be  assured,  Sir,  I  have  no  desire  to  endanger 
the  British  dominion,  nor  the  most  distant  idea  that  the  labours  of 
Missionaries  will  have  any  such  tendency.  If  they  have,  howev- 
er, it  will  be  an  event  of  which  history  furnishes  no  example. 
But  why  set  up  the  safety  of  our  dominion  as  the  supreme  object; 
to  which  every  thing  else,  even  the  imparting  of  the  blessings  ol 
Christianity,  must  give  way  ?  If  there  be  any  meaning  in  our  Sa- 
viour's words,  He  that  naveth  his  life  shall  lose  it,  is  not  this  the 
way  to  ruin  that  very  dominion  you  are  so  anxious  to  preserve 
It  was  to  prevent  the  Romans  from  coming  to  take  away  their  place 
and  nation  that  the  Jews  were  persuaded  to  crucify  the  Lord  ol 
glory  ;  a  measure  which  brought  on  them  the  very  evil  that  \\u:\ 
dreaded. 

Review,  Sir,  your  proposed  regulations  for  confining  Missiona 
ries  to  a  particular  district,  and  sending  them  away  by  a  ^ummarv 
power  upon  proof  of  any  evil  consequences,  not  only  arising,  bu* 
'^likely  to  arise  from  their  presence."  Does  not  this  siipposr 
that  you  have  adversaries  to  deal  with,  such  as  Shimei  was  knoMu 
to  be  by  Solomon  ;  who,  therefore,  must  be  confined  and  watch- 
ed with  a  jealous  eye,  and  who  require  to  be  punished  on  the 
ground  of  mere  apprehension  ?  Does  it  not  proceed  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  every  thing  must  be  subservient  to  political  expediency  ' 
Why  should  you  not  treat  Missionaries  as  friends,  till  they  provt- 
themselves  to  be  enemies  ?  If  they  prove  to  be  such,  let  them  be 
sent  home  at  our  own  expense  ;  or  let  us  be  informed,  and  we  will 
recall  them.  Of  all  the  Missionaries  that  have  gone  to  India,  how 
many  has  the  government  found  that  deserved  the  name  of  ene- 
mies ?  I  believe  not  one.  But  their  zeal  it  has  been  said,  may 
betray  them  into  indiscretions.  It  may  ;  we  have  never  heard, 
however,  of  any  such  indiscretions  as  those  of  which  military  gen- 
tlemen have  been  guilty,  in  cutting  off  men^s  beards,  and  shooting 
their  monkeys.     But  allowing  that  religious  zeal  may  betray  them 


JOHN   UKVf^AM),  Jl.v.  Liu..  337 

iiitusuiiie  inilUcretions,  and  thi:i  we  do  not  deny  ;  yet  let  lliom  b*-. 
treated  as  you  would  treat  a  friend ;  that  is,  let  them  ba  told  ol 
their  indiscretion!:,  of  which  it  may  be  tliey  are  not  a  war  eat  the 
time.  A  few  sHch  words  woald  v.o  much  further  with  these  meu 
thaji  a  jealous  eye  or  severe  animadversion.  A  friendly  feeling, 
Sir,  in  this  case,  is  every  thing.  Suppose  a  Missionary  stationed 
up  the  country  ;  lie  gives  the  scriptures  to  those  who  ask  for 
ihenj,  and  preaches,  or  rather  converses  with  the  natives,  (for 
their  addresses  are  not  harangues,  but  are  frequently  interrupted 
hy  inquiries.)  The  Hindoos  are  attentive,  and  desire  to  hear 
more  ;  but  two  or  three  Mahometans,  to  wliom  it  is  almost  natural 
to  be  of  a  bitter  persecuting  spirit,  are  displeased,  and  get  a  letter 
of  complaints  written  to  Government.  If  Government  be  friendly, 
it  will  hear  both  sides  before  it  judges  ;  if  not,  the  Missionary  will 
be  immediately  ordered  away.  Such,  Sir,  appears  to  be  the 
summary  process  which  your  proposed  regulations  would  justify. 
Wiiy  should  imaginary  dangers,  unfounded  in  a  single  fact  dur- 
ing the  experience, as  you  say,  of  centuries,  be  made  the  ground 
of  legislative  control  ?  Surely,  Sir,  your  apprehensions  of  "  a 
premature  sliock  being  given  to  the  Hindoo  opinions,"  while  yet 
you  acknowledge  that  "  no  danger  ever  has  arisen,"  must  have 
l>een  excited  by  the  reiterated  ronresi^ntations  of  those  persons 
whom  you  reckon  incompetent  to  judge  on  the  question.  Why 
should  a  course  of  disinterested  labours,  which,  in  every  instance 
of  conversion,  adds  a  cordial  friend  to  the  British  Government, 
even  though  it  were,  like  the  course  of  an  a|)0stle,  to  be  now  and 
then  the  innocent  occasion  of  a  local  disturbance,  be  viewed  with 
so  jealous  an  eye  ?  out  of  nearly  Jice  hundred  persons  who  have 
embraced  Christianity  by  means  of  our  JMissionaries,  we  fear  no 
•  ontradiction  when  we  say  that  not  one  of  them  has  proved  himself 
any  other  than  a  loyal  and  peaceable  subject. 

If  there  be  any  danger  of  mischief  arising  from  JMissionarieP 
It  must  atTect  themselves  before  it  can  Jifl'ect  Government.  In 
the  frolic  of  the  otTicers  who  shot  the  sacred  monkeys,  CJovern- 
mont  docs  not  a]ipear  to  have  been  so  much  as  thought  of;  il  wac 
heir  own  life,  and  that  only,  that  was  endangered  ;  and  so  long 
-  Missionaries  stand  merely  on  their  own  grouud,   rrreivjng  no 


338  A  LKTTER  TO  JOHN  WE Y  LAND,  Jun.Esh. 

favour  but  what  is  common  to  good  subjects,  (and  this  is  all  we 
ask,)  it  will  be  the  same  with  them.  If  any  danger  arises,  it  will 
be  to  themselves  j  and  of  this,  after  all  their  experience,  they  have 
no  apprehensions. 

Some  gentlemen  cannot  understand  what  we  mean  in  our  peti- 
tions, when  we  profess  obedience  to  Government  in  civil  things 
only.  We  mean  nothing  more  than  to  reserve  our  consciences 
for  God,  according  to  our  Saviour's  words,  Render  unto  Cesar  the 
filings  tohich  are  Cesar'' s,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's. 
We  have  no  reserves  but  these.  Hinder  us  not  in  our  efforts  to 
carry  into  execution  the  commission  of  Christ,  and  we  are  not 
anxious  about  other  things.  We  mean  by  obedience  in  all  civil 
concerns  as  much  as  if  we  engaged  to  conduct  ourselves  in  a  loy- 
al, orderly  and  peaceful  way.  If  it  be  objected  that  we  are  liable 
to  act  improperly  in  religions,  as  well  as  in  civil  concerns — we  an- 
swer, if  our  conduct  even  in  the  exercise  of  religion,  be  injurious 
to  the  peace  of  society,  we  should  allow  this  to  be  a  breach  of, 
civil  obedience,  and  have  no  objection  to  be  accountable  for  it, 
«nly  let  us  not  be  punished  on  the  ground  of  mere  apprehension 
nor  treated  but  as  being  what  we  are — sincere  friends  to  our 
country  and  to  our  species. 

I  am,  Sir,  respectfully  yours, 

ANDREW  FULLER. 


STRfCTUUKS 


rtV 


SAN  DEM  ANIANISM, 


IN 


TWELVE  LETTERS  TO  A  FRIEND. 


(ONTKNTw^. 


I-KT'IKII  1. 

Inticiiif'tioil.  ...  -  -  .UJ 

LICTTER  11 

'     utituiiiiu  u  Gencrnl  View  of  tlie  System,  with  its    leading  points  ol 

diffprcnop  from  th'*  Systems  which  it  opposp«,     .        -        -        -        :1^3 

LETTKR  HI. 

'Containing  a  more  particular  Inquiry  into  the  Conscqueuccs  of  Mr. 

Sandeman's  N'otion  of  Justifying  Faitli, 37;] 

J.KTTKR  l\. 

Hii  the  Faith  ol  iJcvils  ami  Nominal  Christian?,         .        ^         .         .        385 

LETTER  V. 

On  the  Connexion  between  Repentance  toward  God  and  Faith' tow  ir J 

our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, -     397 

LETTER  VI. 

')n  the  Connexion  between  Knowledge  and  Disposition.  -  .w  "^^ 

LETTER  VII. 

An  Inquiry,  whetlier,  if  believing:  be  a  spiritual  Act  of  the  Mind,  it  does 

niif  prrstippocc  f  ho  Snbjrct  of  it  to  be  spiritual.  -         4?!* 

i-ETTER  VIII. 

\ii  Inquiry  whethc  r  the  Principles  here  defended  aflecl    liie  lioctrine  ni 

Free  Jnslifiontion  by  Faith  in  thcRightcousne':' of  Chri't.     -         -     44U 

LETTER  IN 
'  )n  certain  New  Testament  Fra»'ficf.c,  l  -,<» 


342  CONTENTS. 

LETTER  X. 

An  Inquiry  into   the  Principles  ou  which  the  Apostles  proceeded,  iu 

fArmiog  and  organizing  Christian  Churches,     .        ~        ..        .         4()9 

LETTER  XI. 

Ofthe  Kingdom  of  Christ, ~        -       485 

LETTER  Xn. 

The  Spirit  of  the  System  cooipared  with  that  of  primitive  Christianity,    49 1 


STRICTURES 


SANDEMANIANIS3I,  &c. 


LETTER  I. 


INTllOUUCTION. 


My  Dear  Frieiid, 

1  HAVE  been  told  more  than  once  that  my  not  auswei  ui;^  the  piece 
Nvritten  some  years  since,  by  Mr.  A.  M'Lean,  has  been  considered 
as  a  proof  that  I  felt  it  unanswerable.  But  if  so,  1  must  have  felt 
the  productions  of  many  other  opponents  unansweralile,  as  well  as 
liis;  for  I  have  seldom  had  the   last  word  in  a  controversy.     The 

ruth  IS,  1  was  not  greatly  inclined  to  answer  Mr.  M.  I  felt  dis- 
gusted with  the  illiberality  of  his  repeatedly  arraigning  my  mo- 
•ivcs,  his  accusing  me  of  intentional  misrepresentation,  and  his  in- 
-inuating  as  though  I  could  "take  either  side  of  a  question,  as  1 
found  occasion.''  1  contented  myself,  therefore,  with  writing  a 
>mall  tract,  called  Tlic  Great  (^uastion  Answered;  in  which,  while 
•romplying  with  the  desire  of  a  friend,  I  endeavoured  to  state  my 
views  -x'iUtout  controversy;  and  as  Mr.  M,  had  given  a  caricature 
tiescriplion  of  what  my  principles  would  amount  to,  if  applied  in 
the  form  of  an  address  to  the  unconverted,  1  determined  to  reduce 

b.em  to  that  form;  hoping  also  tiiat,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  they 
nii;ilit  prove  of  some  use  to  the  parties  addre?>cd. 

Whether  it  was  owing  to  tliis  tract,  or  not,  1  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  friends  of  religion  \\]\n  ;iticnded  in  ilio  Mibjcct.  did 


344  INTRODUC'ilON.  [Letter  1. 

me  justice  at  the  time,  and  that  even  those  who  favoured  Mr.  M.'s 
side  of  the  question,  thought  he  must  have  mistaken  the  drift  of 
my  reasoning,  as  well  as  have  imputed  motives  to  me  of  which  I 
was  innocent. 

Whatever  Mr.  M.  may  tliinic  of  me,  I  do  not  consider  him  as 
capable  of  either  intentional  misrepresentation,  or  taking  either 
side  of  the  question  as  he  may  find  occasion.  That  my  principles 
are  misrepresented  by  him,  and  that  in  a  great  number  of  instan- 
ces, I  could  easily  prove:  but  the  opinion  that  I  have  of  his  char- 
acter leads  me  to  impute  it  to  misunderstanding,  and  not  to  design. 

I  am  not  conscious  of  any  unbrotherly  feeling  towards  Mr.  M. 
In  resuming  the  subject,  however,  after  such  a  lapse  of  time,  I 
have  no  mind  to  write  a  particular  answer  to  his  performance, 
though  1  may  frequently  notice  his  arguments.  It  is  in  consequence 
of  observing  the  nature  and  tendency  of  the  system,  that  I  under- 
take to  examine  it.  Such  an  examination  will  not  only  be  more 
agreeable  to  my  own  feelings,  but  more  edifying  to  the  reader, 
than  either  an  attack  on  an  individual  opponent,  or  a  defence  of 
myself  against  him. 

In  calling  the  sentiments  1  oppose  .S'anc?e»jamams»j,  I  mean  noth- 
ing invidious.  The  principles  taught  by  Messrs.  Glass  and  »Sande- 
man,  about  half  a  centur}'^  ago,  did  certainly  give  a  new  turn  and 
character  to  almost  every  thing  pertaining  to  the  religion  of 
Christ,  as  must  appear  to  any  one  who  reads  and  understands  their 
publications.  In  the  north  it  is  the  former  of  these  authors  who 
gives  name  to  the  denomination  :  with  us  it  is  the  latter,  as  being 
most  known  by  his  writings. 

(  have  denominated  Sandemanianism  a  system;  because  it  not 
only,  as  I  have  said,  affects  the  whole  of  Christianity,  but  induces 
all  who  embrace  it  to  separate  from  other  Christians.  Mr.  San- 
deman  manifestly  desired  that  the  societies  which  were  connected 
with  him  should  be  unconnected  with  all  others,  and  that  they 
should  be  considered  aa  the  only  true  churches  of  Christ.  Such  a 
view  of  things  amounts  to  more  than  a  diiference  on  a  iaw  point? 
of  doctrine  ;  it  is  a  distinct  species  of  religion,  and  requires  for 
distinction's  sake,  to  have  a  name,  and  till  some  other  is  found  by 
\vhich  it  ran  be  designated,  it  jnu?f  be  called  after  that  of  its  au- 
thor. 


l.JtTTERl.J  INTRODUCTIO.N.  34^ 

It  is  Dot  my  design  to  censure  Sandcrnnnianisiu  in  the  gross. 
There  are  many  things  in  the  system  which,  in  my  judgment,  are 
worthy  of  serious  attention.  If  Mr.  Sandeman,  and  his  followers, 
had  only  taught  that  faith  has  revealed  truth  for  its  object,  or  that 
which  is  true  antecedently  to  its  being  believed,  and  whether  it  be 
believed  or  not  ;  that  the  finished  work  of  Christ,  exclusive  of 
every  act,  exercise,  or  thought  of  the  human  mind,  is  that  foi 
the  sake  of  which  a  sinner  is  justified  before  God  ;  that  no  qualifi- 
cations of  any  kind  are  necessary  to  warrant  our  believing  in  him  ; 
and  that  the  first  scriptural  consolation  received  by  the  believer 
arises  from  the  gospel,  and  not  from  rellecting  on  the  feelings  of  hi!* 
own  mind  towards  it ;  they  would  have  deserved  well  of  the  church 
of  Christ. 

Whether  those  against  whom  Mr.  S.  inveighs,  under  the  name 
of  popular  preachers,  were  so  averse  to  these  principles  as  he 
has  represented  them,  is  another  question.  I  have  no  doubt,  how- 
ever, but  they,  and  many  other  preachers  and  writers  of  the  pre- 
sent times,  stand  corrected  by  him  and  by  other  writers  who  have 
adopted  his  principles. 

JMr.  Ecking  remarks  on  some  passages  in  Mr.  Boston's  Fourfold 
Utate,  with  much  propriety,  particularly  on  such  language  as  the 
following  :  "  Do  what  you  can  ;  and  it  may  be  while  you  are 
doing  what  you  can  for  yourselves,  God  will  do  for  you  what  you 
cannot."  Agaia  :  "  Let  us  believe  as  we  can,  in  obedience  to 
God's  command,  and  while  we  are  doing  so,  although  the  act  be 
at  the  beginning  but  natural,  yet,  in  the  very  act,  promised  and 
purchased  grace  strikes  in  and  turns  it  into  a  super-natural  act  ol 
believing."*  From  other  parts  of  Mr.  Boston's  work,  it  appears 
that  he  did  not  consider  grace  as  promised  to  any  of  the  works  of 
the  unregenerate  ;  but  allowing  him,  by  "  promised  grace,"  in 
this  passage,  to  mean  that  which  was  promised  to  Christ  on  behalf 
of  those  who  were  given  him  by  the  Father,  yet  the  language  is 
unscriptural  and  dangerous,  as  giving  the  sinner  to  understand  that 
his  inability  is  something  that  excuses  hiui,  and  that  in  doing  what 
he  can  while  in  enmity  to  God  he  obeys  the  divine  command,  and 
is  at  least  in  a  more  hopeful  way  of  obtaining  supernatural  grace. 

*  Essays,  p.  33. 
Voj.  FIl.  U 


;j4(i  liSTRODUCT.ON.  [Letter  I. 

The  Apostles  exhorted  sinners  to  repent  and  believe  the  gospel,  and 
(0  nothing  short  of  it  ;  making  no  account  of  their  inability.  If 
we  follow  their  example,  God  may  honour  their  own  ordinances  by 
accompanying  them  with  his  Holy  Spirit  ;  but  as  to  any  thing  being 
done  in  concurrence  with  the  endeavours  of  the  unregenerate,  we 
have  no  such  idea  held  out  to  us  in  the  oracles  of  God. 

It  is  God's  ordinary  method,  indeed,  prior  to  his  bestowing  that 
supernatural  grace  which  enables  a  sinner  to  repent  and  believe 
the  gospel,  by  various  means  to  awaken  him  to  reflection,  and  to 
the  serious  consideration  of  his  condition  as  a  transgressor  of  the 
divine  law.  Such  convictions  may  last  for  a  considerable  time, 
and  may  issue  in  true  conversion  ;  but  they  ma}*-  not  :  and  so 
long  as  the  gospel-way  of  salvation  is  rejected,  or  neglected,  in  fa- 
vour of  some  self-righteous  scheme,  there  is  nothing  truly  good  in 
them.  They  are  as  the  noise,  and  the  shaking  of  the  dry  bones, 
hut  not  the  breath  of  life.  They  are  the  means  by  which  God 
prepares  the  mind  for  a  welcome  reception  of  the  gospel  ;  but 
they  contain  no  advance  towards  Christ  on  the  part  of  the  sinner. 
He  is  not  nearer  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  nor  less  in  danger  of  the 
wrath  to  come,  than  when  he  was  at  ease  in  his  sins.  Nay,  not- 
withstanding the  outward  reformation  which  such  convictions  or- 
dinarily produce,  he  is  not,  upon  the  whole,  a  less  sinner  in  the 
siglit  of  God  than  he  was  before.  On  the  contrary,  "  He  who 
continues  under  all  this  light,  and  contrary  to  the  plain  dictates 
and  pressing  painful  convictions  of  his  own  conscience,  obstin- 
ately to  oppose  and  reject  Jesus  Christ,  is,  on  the  account  of  this 
his  impenitence  and  obstinacy  under  this  clear  light  and  convic- 
tion of  conscience,  (whatever  alteration  or  reformation  has  taken 
place  in  him  in  other  respects,)  more  guiliy,  vile,  and  odious  in 
God's  sight  than  he  was  before.^''* 

For  a  minister  to  withhold  the  invitations  of  the  gospel  till  he 
perceives  the  sinner  sutficiently,  as  he  thinks,  convinced  of  sin, 
and  then  to  bring  them  forward  as  something  to  which  he  is  en- 
titled, holding  up  his  convictions  and  distress  of  mind  as  signs  of 
grace,  and  persuading  him,  on  this  ground,  to  think  himself  one 
of  God's  elect,  and  warranted  to  believe  in  Christ,  as  doing  worsp 
*  Hopkins's  True  State  of  the  Unregenerate,  p.  6. 


Letter  r.|  INTRODUC'I'IO.N.  347 

lliaii  iiulliiiiir.  The  coniturl  wliich  the  apostles  presented  to 
awakened  sinners,  con.^isted  piirolv  in  the  exhibition  of  Christ,  and 
the  invitations  to  believe  in  him.  Neither  the  coinpnny  addressed 
by  Peter,  nor  the  Philipi.iu  jailor,  were  encouraged  from  any 
thing  in  the  state  of  their  own  ruind<,  though  each  were  deeply 
inapressed,  but  from  the  gospel  only.  The  preachers  might  and 
would  take  encouragement  on  perceiving  them  to  be  pricked  in 
their  hearts,  and  might  hope  for  a  good  i^sue  ;  but  it  had  been  at 
their  peril  to  encourage  them  to  hopo  for  mercy  any  otherwise 
than  as  believing  in  the  Son  of  God. 

The  llyper-calvinists,  who  ^;nt  aside  the  invitations  of  the  gospel 
to  the  unregenerate,  abound  in  tiiese  things.  They  are  aware 
that  the  scriptures,  do  invite  sinners  of  some  sort  to  believe  in 
Christ;  but  then  they  conceive  them  to  be  sensible  sinners  only. 
It  is  thus  that  the  terms  hunger,  thirst,  labour,  heavy-laden,  kc.  as 
used  in  the  scripture  invitations,  are  considered  as  denoting  s/;/n7- 
j/a/ desire,  as  marking  out  the  persons  who  are  entitled  to  come  to 
Christ.  The  Gospel  invitations  should  be  addressed  to  sinners 
as  thcsuhjccts  of  those  wants  and  dci^ires  which  it  is  adapted  to  sat- 
isfy, such  as  the  thirst  for  happiness,  peace,  rest,  k.c.  is  no  more 
than  might  be  expected.  It  had  been  strange  if  living  waters  had 
been  presented  to  them  who  in  710  sense  were  thirsty,  or  rest  to 
them  who  were  in  no  sense  weary  and  heavy-laden  :  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  this  thirst  and  this  weariness  is  spiritual.  On  the 
contrary,  they  who  are  invited  to  buy  and  eat  without  money  and 
without  price,  are  supposed  to  be  "  spending  their  money  for  that 
which  is  not  bread  ;"  are  admonished  as  *'  wicked"  men  to  forsake 
their  way  ;  and  invited  to  return  to  the  liord  under  a  promise  ot 
abundant  pardon,  on  theirso  returning.  The  *'  heavy-laden"  also, 
are  supposed  as  yet  not  to  have  come  to  Christ,  nor  taken  his  yoke, 
nov  learned  his  spirit  ;  and  surely  it  could  not  be  the  design  ot 
Christ  to  persuade  them  to  think  well  of  their  state,  seeing  he  con- 
stantly teaches  us  that  till  a  sinner  come  to  him,  or  believe  in  him, 
he  is  under  the  curse.  It  is  also  observable  tluit  the  promise  ol 
rest  is  not  made  to  them  as  heavy-laden,  but  as  coming  to  Chrint 
with  their  burdens.  There  is  no  proof  that  all  who  were  pricked 
in  their  hearts   under    Peter's  sermon,  and  who   inquired.    What 


348  INTRODUCTION.  [Letter  I. 

shall  we  do  ?  believed  and  were  s,aved.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems 
to  be  intimated  that  only  a  part  of  them,  gladly  received  the  word, 
and  were  baptized.  Had  they  a// done  so,  it  would  probably  have 
been  said,  Then  they  gladly  received  his  word,  and  were  baptised. 
Instead  of  this  it  is  said,  7'Aen  they  that  gladly  received  his  word 
were  baptised,  &.c.  implying  that  there  were  some  who  though 
pricked  in  their  hearts,  yet  received  not  the  word  of  the  gospel  ; 
and  were  not  baptised,  and  who  miglit  leave  the  place  under  an 
impression  that  the  forgiveness  of  sins  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  a  hard  saying.  There  are  many  it  is  to  be  feared  who  at  this 
day  feel  guilt  to  be  a  heavy  burden,  and  yet  never  bring  it  to 
Christ ;  but  lay  it  down  on  some  self-righteous  resting  place,  and  so 
perish  forever. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  a// convictions  of  sin  are  to  be 
resolved  into  the  operations  of  an  awakened  conscience.  There 
is  such  a  thing  as  a  c^pviction  of  the  evil  nature  of  sin,  and  that  by 
a  view  of  the  spirituality  and  equity  of  the  divine  law.  It  was  by 
the  commandment  that  Paul  perceived  sin  to  be  exceeding  sinful. 
Such  a  conviction  of  sin  cannot  consist  with  a  rejection  of  the  gos- 
pel way  of  salvation,  but,  as  soon  as  it  is  understood,  instantly  leads 
the  sinner  to  embrace.  It  is  thus  that  through  the  law,  we  become 
dead  to  the  law  that  we  may  live  unto  God. 

I  may  add,  the  attention  (»f  Christians  appears  to  have  been  too 
much  drawn  towards  what  may  be  called  subjective  religion  to  the 
neglect  of  that  which  is  objective.  Many  speak  and  write  as  though 
the  truth  of  the  gospel  was  a  subject  out  of  doubt,  and  as  though 
the  only  question  of  importance  was,  whether  they  be  interested 
in  his  blessings  ;  and  there  are  not  a  few  who  have  no  doubt  of 
their  believing  the  former,  but  many  doubts  respecting  the 
latter.  Hence  it  is  probable,  the  essence  of  faith  came  to  be  pla- 
ced, not  in  a  belief  of  the  gospel,  but  in  a  persuasion  of  our  being 
interested  in  its  benefits.  If,  however,  we  really  believe  the  one, 
there  is  no  scriptural  ground  to  doubt  of  the  other ;  since  it  is  con- 
stantly declared  that  he  who  believeth  in  the  gospel  shall  be  sa- 
ved. 

If  the  attention  of  the  awakened  sinner,  instead  of  being  direc- 
*^d  to  Christ,  be  turned  inward,  and  hjs   mind  be   employed  in 


Letter  I.]  LVTRODUCTIOX  ^.q 

searrliing  for  evulencc;  of  his  conversion,  the  effect  must,  to  ?ny 
the  least,  be  uncomfortable,  and  may  be  fatal ;  as  it  may  lead  him 
to  make  a  righteousness  of  his  religious  feelings,  mstead  of  lookmg 
out  of  himself  to  the  Saviour. 

Nor  is  this  all  :   If  the  attention  of  Christians  be  turned  to  their 
own  feelings,  instead  of  the  things  which  should  make  them  feel,  it 
fvill  reduce  their  religion  to  something  vastly  different  from  that  of 
the  primitive  rhristians.     Such  truths  as  the   following  were  the 
life  of  their  spirits  :  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sitincrs. 
— Christ   died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  scriptures  ;  and  to  as 
buried,   and  rose  again   the    third  day,  according  to  the  scrip- 
tures.—Reinember  that  Jesus  Christ  of  the  seed  of  David,  was  rais- 
ed from  the  dead  according  to  mij  gospel— Wc  have  a  great  high 
priest  that  is  passed  into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  &c. 
But,  by  the  turn  of  thought,  and  strain  of  conversation,  in  many  re- 
ligious connexions  of  the  present  day,  it  would  seem  as  if  these 
things  had  lost  their  influence.   They  are  become  "dry  doctrines," 
and  the  parties  must  have  something  else.     The  elevation  and  de- 
pression of  their  hopes  and  fears,  joys  and  sorrows,  is  with  them  the 
favourite   theme.     The  consequence  is,  as  might  be  expected,  a 
Jiving  to  themselves  rather  than    to  him  that  died  and  rose  again  ; 
and  a  mind  either  elated  by  unscriptura!  enjoyment,  or  depressed 
by  miserable  despondency.     It  is  is  not  by  thinking  and  talking  of 
the  sensations  of  hunger,  but  by  feeding  on  the  living  aliment,  that 
we  are  filled  and  strengthened. 

Whether  the  above  remarks  will  satisfy  Mr.  M'Lean  that  these 
are  "  really  my  fixed  sentiments,'"  and  that  he  has  greatly  misun- 
derstood the  ends  for  which  1  wrote  the  piece  on  which  he  animad- 
verted, and  of  course  misrepresented  my  principles  as  to  their  ef- 
fect on  awakened  sinners,  I  cannot  tell.*  lie  this  as  it  may,  I 
trust  other  readers  will  be  under  no  temptation  to  do  me  injustice. 
But,  whatever  danger  may  arise  from  those  principles  which  are 
too  prevalent  among  us,  they  are  not  the  only  errors,  nor  does  all  the 
danger  arise  from  that  quarter.  Subjective  religion  is  as  necessary 
in  its  place  as  objective.  It  is  as  true  that  without  holiness  no  man 
shall  see  the  T.nrd,  as  that  without  the  shedding  of  hlood  there  is  nn 
*  Pee  bis  Reply,  pp.  Af>,  47.  ]r"j. 


350  li\TRODUCTlo:V.  [Letter  I. 

retnissinn.  It  is  necessary  to  look  into  ourselves  for  the  purpose 
of  conviction,  though  not  for  the  cause  of  salvation  ;  and  though 
the  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel  is  without  us,  and  independ- 
ent of  our  state  of  mind  towards  it,  yet  this  is  not  the  case  witli 
respect  to  evidence  of  an  interest  in  its  blessings.  We  have  nci 
■warrant  to  expect  eternal  life  but  as  being  the  subjects  of  those 
things  to  which  it  is  promised. 

I  do  not  perceive,  therefore,  how  it  can  be  justly  affirmed,  as 
it  lately  has  been,  that  "  self-examination  is  not  calcultited  to  qui- 
et the  consicence,  to  banish  slavish  fear,  or  to  remove  doubts  and 
apprehensions  of  our  being  \inbelievers  ;"  and  still  less  how  can  it 
be  maintained  that  "  peace  of  mind  founded  on  any  thing  in  our- 
selves will  always  puff  us  up  vvith  pride."  If  the  stale  of  our 
souls  be  bad,  indeed,  self-examination  must  disquietthe  conscience, 
rather  than  quiet  it:  but  are  there  no  cases  in  which,  through  the 
accusations  of  others,  or  a  propensity  in  ourselves  to  view  the  dark 
side  of  things  rather  than  the  bright  one,  or  the  afnicting  hand  ol' 
God,  our  souls  may  be  disquited  within  us,  and  in  which  self-ex- 
amination may  yield  us  peace  ?  Did  the  review  which  Job  took 
of  his  past  life  (Chap,  xxxi.)  yield  no  peace  to  him  ?  And  though 
he  was  not  clear  when  examined  by  the  impartial  eye  of  God,  yet 
were  all  his  solemn  appeals  respecting  his  integrity  the  workings 
of  self-righteous  pride  ?  Was  David  puffed  up  when  he  said, 
Lord,  I  have  hoped  in  thy  salvation,  and  have  done  thy  command- 
ments? Did  John  encourage  a  confidence  in  the  flesh,  when  he 
!»aid.  If  our  hearts  condemn  im  not,  then  have  we  confidence  towards 
God?  or  Peter,  when  he  appealed  to  Cii rist,  Lo?-(/,  thou  knoiccst 
all  things,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee  ? 

Had  it  been  only  affirmed,  that  no  peace  of  mind  can  arise  from 
the  recollection  of  what  we  have  fell  or  done  in  times  past,  while 
.at  present  we  are  unconscious  of  any  thing  of  the  kind,  this  had 
oae^n  true.  The  past  experiences  can  no  otherwise  be  an 
evidence  of  grace  to  us,  than  as  the  remcnihrance  of  them  re- 
kindles the  same  sentiments  and  feelings  anew.  But  to  object  to 
all  peace  of  mind  arising  from  a  consciousness  of  having  done  the 
will  of  God,  and  to  denominate  it  "  confidence  in  the  flesh,'"  is  re 
pugnantto  the  whole  tenor  of  scripture. 


Letter  I  ]  INTRODUCTION.  35  j 

A  system  may  contain  much  important  truth,  and  yet  be  blended 
with  so  much  error,  as  to  destroy  its  sahjtary  efiicacy.  Mr.  San- 
dcman  has  cx|iuiiged  a  great  <ieal  of  false  rehgioii  ;  but  whether  he 
has  exhibited  that  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  is  another  question. 
It  is  much  easier  to  point  out  the  defects  and  errors  of  other  sys- 
tems, than  to  substitute  one  that  is  even  less  exceptionable  ;  and  to 
talk  of  "  simple  truth"  and  "  simple  belief,"  than  to  exhibit  the 
religion  of  Jesus  in  its  genuine  simjdicity. 

In  discussing  the  points  at  issue,  we  shall  meet  with  some  things 
which  may  be  thought  of  too  metaphysical  a  cast  to  be  of  any  great 
in)portancc:  and  had  not  the  effects  produced  convinced  me  of  the 
contrary,  1  might  have  thought  so  too.  But  though  the  principles 
un  which  the  system  rests  are  many  of  them  so  minute  as  almost  to 
elude  detection,  yet  they  are  not  the  less  efficacious.  The  seed  i:* 
smill,  but  the  branch  is  not  so. 

It  has  been  regretted,  that  any  person  who  drinks  thoroughly 
into  these  views,  is  at  once  separated  from  all  his  former  religious 
connexions,  whatever  they  might  be  ;  and  where  the  heart  has 
been  united,  it  mu-t  needs  be  a  matter  of  regret  :  vet  upon  the 
whole,  it  may  be  best.  Whatever  fruits  are  produced  by  this  spe- 
cies of  religion,  whether  good  or  bad,  they  are  hereby  much  more 
easily  ascertained.  Its  societies  bear  some  resemblance  to  so  ma- 
ny farms,  taken  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  for  the  purpose 
of  scientific  experiment  ;  and  it  must  needs  be  apparent,  in  the 
course  of  fifty  or  sixty  years  experience,  whether  upon  the  whole, 
they  have  turned  to  a  better  account  than  those  of  their  neigh- 
bours. 

I  will  only  add,  in  this  place,  that  though  I  do  not  conceive  of  ev- 
ery one  as  embracing  this  doctrine,  who  in  sonic  particulars  may 
agree  with  Mr.  Sandeman,  (for  in  that  case,  1  should  be  reckoned 
to  embrace  it  myself,)  yet  many  more  must  be  considered  as  friend- 
ly to  it  in  the  main,  than  those  who  cho«e  to  be  called  either  San- 
demanian  Glassites.  It  has  been  held  by  people  of  various  denom- 
inations; by  Presbyterians,  Independents  and  Baptists;  and  has  been 
observed  to  give  distinctive  character  to  the  whole  of  their  religion. 
In  this  view  of  the  subject  I  wish  to  examine  it  ;  paying  attention, 
not  so  much  to  persons  or  names  as  to  things,  let  them  be  embraced 
by  whom  they  may.  I  am  yours,  At. 


LETTER  II. 


CONTAINING  A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  SYSTEM,  WITH  ITS  LKAU- 
ING  POINTS  OF  DIKFEIIENCE  FROM  THE  SYSTEMS  WHICH  IT  OP- 
POSES. 


Ml/  Dear  Friend, 

Althocuii  the  writing  of  such  men  as  Flavel,  Boston,  Guthhe, 
the  Erskines,  &:c.  are  represented  by  Mr.  Sandeman  as  furnish- 
ing '^  a  devout  path  to  hell,"  and  the  writers  themselves  as  phari- 
sees,  "than  whom  no  sinners  were  more  hardened,  and  none 
greater  destroyers  of  mankind,"  yet  he  allows  them  to  have  set  be- 
fore US  '*  many  articles  oi  the  apostolical  doctrine  ;"  yea,  and  to 
have  "  asserted  almost  all  the  acticles  belonging  to  the  sacred 
truth."  Considering  this,  and  that,  so  far  as  these  writers  held 
with  "  good  duties,  good  endeavouis,  and  good  motions"  in  unbe- 
lievers preparing  them  for  faith,  we  give  them  up,  it  may  seem  as 
if  there  could  be  no  great  diflerence  between  Mr.  Sandeman  and 
us.  Yet  a  din'orence  there  is,  and  of  that  importance  too,  as  deep- 
ly to  atfect  the  doctrine,  the  worship,  the  spirit,  and  the  practice 
ofChrisliaiiity. 

The  foundation  of  whatever  is  distinguished  in  the  system  seems 
to  relate  to  the  nature  of  justifying  faith.  This  Mr.  S.  constantly 
represents  as  the  bare  belief  of  the  bare  truth;  by  which  definition 
he  intends,  as  it  would  seem,  to  exclude  from  it  every  thing  per- 
taining to  the  will  «nd  the  affections,  except  as  effects  produced 
by  it. 

When  Mr.  Pike  became  his  disciple,  and  wished  to  think  that 
by  a  "  bare  behef"  he  meant  a  hearty  persuasion,  and  not  a  mere 
notional  belief,  Mr.  S.  rejected  his  construction,  and   iotisted   that 

Vol.  III.  1*^ 


354  GKNI:RAL  view  [Letter IL 

the  latter  was  his  true  meaning.  "Every  one,"  says  he,  "who 
obtains  a  just  notion  of  the  work  and  person  of  Christ,  or  whose 
?io^ion  corresponds  to  what  is  testitied  of  him,  is  justified,  and  find? 
peace  with  God  simply  by  that  notion.^^* 

This  notion  he  considers  as  the  effect  of  truth  being  impressed 
upon  the  mind,  and  denies  that  the  mind  is  active  in  it.  The  in- 
activity of  the  mind  in  believing  is  of  so  much  importance  in  his 
account,  that  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  grace  depends  upon 
it.  "  He  who  maintains,"  says  he,  "  that  we  are  justified  only  by 
faith,  and  at  the  same  tiroe  affirms,  with  Aspasio,  that  faith  is  a 
work  exerted  by  the  human  mind,  undoubtedly  maintains,  if  he 
have  any  meaning  to  iiis?  words,  that  we  arc  justified  by  a  work 
exerted  by  the  human  mind."t 

Mr.  Sandeman  not  only  opposes  all  active  endeavours  previous- 
ly to  faith,  and  as  tending  to  produce  it,  (in  which  I  have  no  con- 
troversy with  him,)  but  sets  himself  against  all  exhortations,  calls, 
warnings  and  expostulations,  with  the  sinner  to  believe  in  Christ. 
''  If"  says  he,  "  it  be  inquired  what  I  would  say  ibr  the  relief  of 
one  distrest  with  a  sense  of  guilt,  I  would  tell  him  to  the  best 
of  my  ability  what  the  gospel  says  about  Christ,  if  he  still  doubt- 
ed, 1  would  set  before  him  all  the  evidence  furnished  me  by  the 
Same  gosjjel.  Thus,  and  thus  only,  would  I  press,  call,  invite, 
exhort,  or  urge  him  to  believe.  I  would  urge  him  with  evidence 
for  the  truth."!  And  uhen  asked  how  he  would  exhort,  advise, 
or  address  iV«2^u/,  unroncenied  souls?  He  answers,  "  I  am  of  the 
mind  that  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  as  such,  ought  to  have  no  in- 
fluence on  men  but  by  means  of  the  gospel  which  he  preaches. — 
When  Paul  discoursed  concerning  the  faith  in  Christ,  and  as  he 
reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment  to  come; 
Felix  trembled. — It  is  the  duty  of  every  man,  in  every  condition, 
(o  obey  every  divine  command.  The  gospel  always  supposes 
this  while  addressing  all  men  as  sinners,  it  demonstrates  their  dan- 
ger, and  discovers  the  remedy.  Yet  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that 
any  man  can  love  the  gospel,  or  obey  it,  till  he  believe  it.  There- 
*  Epistolary  Coriespondence,  Letter  II. 
i  Letters  on  Theron  and  Aspasio,  Vol.  I.  p.  483. 
'\  Epistolary  Corrcspodence  p.  8. 


1.i:ttkii  ll.[  OK    IHl'.  SVS  TUM  jj^ 

fore  lo  urgo  unbelievers  to  any  shadow  of  that  obedience  as  pre- 
parative to  justificatioD  l>y  faith,  can  have  no  other  cflect  than  to 
lead  ihcin  to  estalili-^h  thiMr  own  righteousness,  and  to  stand  in  awe 
of  the  preacher.""* 

If  there  be  any  nieaniiiii,  in  this  answer,  it  would  seem  lo  lie 
ihal  faith  itself  is  not  a  duty,  and  that  unbelievers  ouffht  not  to  be 
exhorted  to  it,  lest  it  should  lead  them  to  self-righteousness  ;  but 
barely  to  have  the  evidence  of  truth  slated  to  them. 

Mr.  S.  represents  the  sinner  as  justilied,  and  as  having  obtain- 
ed peace  to  his  soul,  while  utterly  destitute  of  the  love  of  God. 
''  I  can  never  begin  to  love  (Jod,"  said  he,  "  till  I  lirst  see  him 
just  in  justifying  me  ungodly  as  1  stand. "t  But  being  justified  in 
this  his  ungodly  slate  of  mind,  he  loves  God  on  account  of  it  ; 
and  here  hegitn  his  godliness  :  '•  ll  all  consists  in  love  to  that 
which  first  relieved  him."j; 

If  he  had  represented  the  doctrine  of  Christ  as  giving  lelief  to 
the  guilty  creature,  irrespective  of  any  consciousness  of  a  change 
in  himself,  or  as  furnishing  him  wilh  a  ground  to  conclude  that 
God  can  be  just  and  the  justitier  of  him  if  he  believes  in  Jesus, 
this  had  accorded  with  Paul's  gospel  :  (Rom.  iv.  21.)  but  for  a  sin- 
ner to  perceive  himself  justified,  implies  a  consciousness  that  he 
IS  a  believer,  and  such  a  consciousness  can  never  be  separate  from 
a  conscious  love  to  the  divine  character.  If,  indeed,  the  gospel 
were  an  expedient  merely  to  give  relief  to  sinners,  and  no  re- 
gard was  had  in  it  to  the  glory  of  God,  a  sinner  full  of  enmity  to 
Hod  might  receive  it,  and  derive  peace  from  it  :  but  if  it  be  ati 
essential  property  of  it  to  secure  the  glory  of  the  divine  char- 
acter, the  belief  of  it  must  include  a  sense  of  that  glory,  which 
cannot  consist  with  ennnty  against  it. 

Let  it  also  be  seriously  considered,  uhether  it  be  true  that  a  sin- 
ner is  justified  "ungodly  as  he  stands  ?"  If  it  be,  he  must  have 
been  so  either  tintecedcntli/  to  his  ''seeing"  it  to  be  so,  an-i  then 
it  must  be  equally  true  of  all  ungodly  sinners  ;  or  it  becomes  so 
when  he  sees  it,  and  by  his  seeing  it,  which  is  the  very  absurdity 
which  Mr.  S.  f.i-teus  on  the  popular  preachers. 

*  Episloliiy  Corr«»ponJeiico,  p.  ?0.        I  Ibiil.   j).  IJ.       |  IbM.  p.  fj. 


35S  GENERAL  VIEW  [JjEttkrH. 

Mr.  S.  and  many  others  have  caught  at  the  phrase  of  the  apos- 
tle Paul,  of  "  God's  justifying  the  ungodly  ;"  but  unless  they  can 
prove  that  by  ungodly  the  apostle  meant  one  that  was  at  the  time 
an  enemy  of  God,  it  makes  nothing  in  their  favour.  The  amount 
is,  Mr.  S.'s  relief  arises  from  his  "  seeing"  what  is  not  to  be  seen  : 
viz.  God  to  be  just  in  justifying  him  ungodly  as  he  stands  ;  and 
his  relief  being  founded  in  falsehood,  all  his  godliness,  which  con- 
fessedly arises  from  it,  must  be  delusive.  The  root  is  rottenness, 
and  the  blossom  7vill  go  up  as  thr  dust. 

From  the  leading  principles  of  doctrine  above  stated,  it  is  easy 
to  account  for  almost  all  the  other  peculiarities  of  the  system. 
Where  the  root  and  substance  of  religion  is  placed  in  knowledge, 
exclusive  of  approbation,  it  may  be  expected  that  the  utmost  stress 
will  be  laid  on  the  former,  and  that  almost  every  thing  pertaining 
to  the  latter  will  be  decried  under  the  name  of  pharisaism,  or 
(some  other  odious  appellation.  Thus  it  is  that  those  who  have 
dru"  k  into  this  system  generally  value  themselves  on  their  clear 
views;  thus  they  scarcely  ever  use  any  other  phrase  by  which  to 
designate  the  state  of  a  converted  man  than  his  knowitig  the  truth  : 
and  thus  all  those  scripture  passages  which  ?peak  of  knoioing  the 
truth  are  constantly  quoted  as  being  in  their  favour,  though  they 
seldom,  if  ever,  mean  knowledge  as  distinguished  from  approba- 
tion, but  as  including  it. 

Farther:  1  do  not  perceive  how  a  system  whose  first  principle 
IS  "  notion,"  and  whose  love  is  confined  to  "  that  which  first  re- 
lieves us,"  can  have  the  love  of  God  in  it.  It  cannot  justify  God 
as  a  lawgiver,  by  taking  blame  and  shame  to  ourselves  ;  for  it  ne- 
cessarily supposes,  and  even  professes,  an  abhorrence  to  both  law 
and  justice  in  every  other  view  than  as  satisfied  by  the  cross  of 
Christ.  The  reconciliation  to  them  in  this  view,  therefore,  must 
be  merely  on  the  ground  of  their  becoming  friendly  to  our  inter- 
ests. But  if  God  be  not  justified  as  a  Lawgiver,  Christ  can  never 
be  received  as  a  Saviour.  There  is  no  more  grace  in  justification, 
than  there  is  justice  in  condemnation:  nor  is  it  possible  we  should 
see  more  of  the  one  than  of  the  other  ;  for  we  cannot  See  things 
otherwise  than  as  they  are  to  be  seen.  But  surely  a  system  which 
neither  justifies  the  Lawgiver,  nor  receives  the  Saviour  as  hon- 


Letter  II  J  OF  THE  SYSTK.M.  3^7 

ouring  him,  cannot  be  of  God.  The  love  of  Cioil  as  God  is  not 
in  it.  Conversion,  on  this  principle,  is  not  turning  to  the  Lord. 
It  professes  indeed,  to  love  God,  but  it  is  only  for  our  own  sake, 
The  whole  process  rer|uiro9  no  renovation  of  the  spirit  of  the 
mind  ;  for  the  mo*t  depraved  creature  is  capable  of  loving  himself, 
and  that  which  relieves  him. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  a  religion  founded  on  such  a  principle 
ihould  be  Iitigiou><,  conceited,  and  censorious  towards  all  who  do 
not  embrace  it?  It  is  of  the  nature  of  a  selfish  spirit  to  be  so.  H 
God  himself  be  loved  only  for  the  relief  he  affords  us,  it  cannot  be 
surprising  that  men  should;  nor  that,  under  the  cover  of  loving, 
them  only  for  the  truth's  sake,  all  maimer  of  bitterness  and  con- 
tempt should  be  cherished  against  every  one  who  dares  to  dispute 
our  flogmas. 

Farther:  The  love  of  God  being  in  a  manner  excluded  from  the 
system,  it  may  be  expected  that  the  defect  will  be  supplied  by  a 
punctilious  attention  to  certain  I'orms  ;  of  which  some  will  be 
fount!  to  arise  from  a  misunderstanding  of  the  scriptures,  and  oth- 
ers which  may  not,  yet  being  regarded  to  the  neglect  of  weightier 
matters,  resemble  the  tithing  of  mint,  aruse  and  cummin. 

Such,  from  the  repeated  views  that  I  have  been  able  to  take  of 
the  system,  appear  to  me  to  me  to  be  its  grand  outlines;  and  I  am 
not  surprised  to  find  that,  in  the  course  of  half  a  century,  it  has 
landed  so  large  a  part  of  its  votaries  on  the  shores  of  Infidelity,  or 
sunk  them  in  the  abyss  of  worldly  conformity.  Those  who  live 
near  them  say  there  is  scarcely  any  appearance  of  serious  religion 
in  their  families,  unless  we  might  call  by  that  name  the  scrupulosi- 
ty that  would  refuse  to  pray  with  an  unbeliever,  but  would  have 
no  objection  tn  accompany  him  to  the  theatre.  Mr.  S.  and  his 
admirers  have  reproached  many  for  their  devotion:  but  I  cannot 
learn  that  they  were  ever  reproached  with  this  evil  in  return. 

The  grand  argument  of  Mr.  S.  against  faith  being  an  act  of  the 
mind,  and  against  admitting  of  any  active  advance  of  the  soul 
towards  Christ  as  necessary  to  justification,  is,  that  it  is  rendering 
faith  a  tcorh ;  and  that  to  be  justified  by  faith  would,  after  all,  be 
to  be  justified  by  a  work  of  our  own.  This  is  the  principal  idea 
pertaininc  to  what  bp  rall=  "  the  very  rankest  poison  of  the  popu- 


3^8  .  GENERAL  VIEW  [Letter  U. 

lar  doctrines."*  If  this  argument  can  be  overturned,  the  greater 
part  of  his  system  falls  with  it.  That  it  may  appear  in  all  its  force 
I  will  quote  his  strongest  representations  of  it. 

"  Perhaps  it  will  be  thought  needful  that  I  should  define  with 
<rreater  precision  than  1  have  hitherto  done,  what  I  mean  by  the 
popular  doctrine,  especially  as  I  have  considered  many  as  preach- 
ers thereof  who  differ  remfirkably  from  each  other;  and  particu- 
larly as  I  have  ranked  among  them  Mr.  Wesley,  who  may  justly 
be  reckoned  one  of  the  most  virulent  reproacher's  of  that  God 
whose  character  is  drawn  by  the  apostles,  that  this  island  has  pro- 
duced. To  remove  all  doubt  concerning  my  meaning,  I  shall  thus 
explain  myself.  Throughout  these  letters,  I  consider  all  those  as 
teachers  of  the  popular  doctrine  who  seek  to  have  credit  and  in- 
fluence among  the  people,  by  resting  our  acceptance  with  God, 
not  simply  on  what  Christ  has  done,  but  more  or  less  on  the  use 
we  make  of  him,  the  advance  we  make  towards  him,  or  some  se- 
cret desire,  wish  or  sigh  to  do  so;  or  on  something  we  feel  or  do 
concerning  him,  by  the  assistance  of  some  kind  of  grace  or  spirit: 
or  lastly,  on  something  we  employ  him  to  do,  and  suppose  he  is 
yet  to  do  for  us.  In  sum,  all  who  would  have  us  to  be  conscious 
of  something  else  than  the  bare  truth  of  the  gospel ;  all  who  would 
have  us  to  be  conscious  of  some  beginning  of  a  change  to  the  bet- 
ter, or  some  desire,  however  faint,  toward  such  change,  in  order 
to  our  acceptance  with  God  ;  these  I  call  the  popular  preachers, 
ho'.vever  much  they  may  differ  irom  each  other  about  faith,  grace, 
special  or  common,  or  about  any  thing  else. — My  resentment  is  all 
along  chiefly  pointed  against  the  capital  branch  of  the  popular  doc- 
trine, which,  while  it  asserts  almost  all  the  articles  belonging  to  the 
sacred  truth,  at  the  same  time  deceitfully  clogs  them  with  the  op- 
posite falsehoods." 

Again:  "  That  the  saving  truth  is  effectually  undermined  by  thi;^ 
confusion,  may  readily  be  seen  in  the  following  easy  view." — 
(This   is  what  !  call  bis  grand  argument.) — '•  He  who  maintains 

THAT  WE  ARE  JUSTIFIED  ONLY  BY  FAITH,  AND  AT  THE  SAMK  TIM-; 
AF.FIRMS,  WITH   ASPASIO,  THAT  FAITH  IS  A  WORK    EXERTED    BY  THE 

'•'Letters  ou  Theron  and  Aspasio,  p.  4t8. 


Lktter  11.1  OF  THE  SVSTKM. 


359 


lUMW  MIND,  I'NDOl'BTEDLY  MAINTAINS,  IF  IIE  HAS  ANY  MKANINO 
10  HIS  WORDS,  THAT  WE  ARE  JUSTIFIED  BY  A  WOIlk  EXERTED  RY 
THE  III'MAN   MIND. 

"  I  have  all  .ilong  stuilieil  to  make  use  of  every  form  of  expres- 
sion 1  could  lliink  of,  for  eviricinj:  in  the  most  clear,  pal]«able;  and 
striking  manner,  a  difference  of  the  last  importance,  which  thou- 
''ands  of  preachers  have  laboured  to  cover  with  a  mist.  If  I  have 
made  that  ditVerence  manifest  to  those  who  have  any  attention  for 
the  subject,  my  great  end  in  writing  is  gained,  on  whatever  side  of 
it  men  shidi  chuse  to  range  themselves.  It  has  fretpienlly  appeared 
to  me  a  thing  no  less  amazing  than  provoking,  when  the  great  dif- 
terence  between  the  ancient  gospel  here  contended  for  and  the 
jiopular  doctrine  has  been  pointed  out  as  clear  as  words  could  make 
it,  to  tind  many,  after  all,  so  obstinately  stupid,  as  to  declare  they 
saw  no  real  difference.  This  I  cannot  account  for  by  assigning 
any  other  cause  than  the  S{)ecial  agency  of  the  prince  of  dark- 
ness,"* 

After  this,  it  may  be  thought  an  act  of  temerity  to  complain  ol 
not  understanding  Mr.  Sandeman;  and  indeed  I  ?hall  make  no  such 
complaint,  fur  I  think  I  do  clearly  understand  his  meaning  ;  but 
whether  he  has  fairly  representfd  that  of  his  opponents,  I  shall 
take  the  liberty  to  inquire. ' 

The  popular  preachers  "  rest  our  acceptance  with  Goil,''  it 
seems,  *  not  simply  on  what  Christ  hath  done,  but  on  the  active 
advance  of  the  soul  towards  him.!'  Do  they  tiien  consider 
faith,  whether  we  be  active  or  passive  in  it,  as  forming  a  part  ol 
our  justifying  righteousness  ?  In  other  words,  do  they  consider 
it  as  any  part  of  that  for  the  sake  of  which  a  sinner  is  accepted  ? 
They  every  where  declare  tiie  contrar)  .  I  question  if  there  be 
one  of  those  whom  Mr,  S.  ordinarily  denominates  popular  preach- 
ers, who  would  not  cordially  subscribe  to  the  passage  in  Aspasio, 
which  he  so  liighly  applauds, and  considers  as  inconsistent  with  the 
popular  doctrine  ;  viz,  "  Both  grace  and  faith  stand  in  direct  op- 
position to  works  ;  all  works  whatever,  whether  they  be  works  of 
»he  law,  or  works  of  the  gospel  ;  exercises  of  the  heart,  or  actions 

'  Letters  on  Theron  and  Aspasio,  Vol.  11,  pp.  480.  4ft3. 


360  GENERAL  VIEW.  [Letter  II. 

of  the  life  ;  done  while  we  remain  unregenerate,  or  when  we  be- 
come regenerate  5  they  are  all  and  every  of  them  equally  set 
aside  in  this  great  affair."*  If  the  popular  preachers  maintain  an 
active  advance  of  the  soul  to  be  necessary  to  our  acceptance  with 
God,  it  is  in  no  other  sense  than  that  in  which  he  himself  maintains 
"  the  bare  belief  of  the  truth"  to  be  so  ;  that  is,  not  as  a  procuring 
cause,  but  as  that  without  ichich,  according  to  the  established  order 
of  things,  there  is  no  acceptance.  To  accuse  them  therefore  of 
corrupting  the  doctrine  of  justification  on  this  account,  must  be 
owing  either  to  gross  ignorance  or  disingenuousness. 

Yet  in  this  strain,  the  eulogists  of  Mr.  Sandeman  go  on  to  declaint 
to  this  day.  "  His  main  doctrine,"  says  one  appears  to  be  this  : 
The  bare  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  he  finished  on  the  cross,  is 
sufficient,  without  a  deed  or  a  thought  on  the  part  o(  man,  to  pre- 
sent the  chief  of  sinners  spotless  before  God.j  If  by  svfficient  br 
meant  that  it  is  that  onli/  on  account  of  which,  of  for  the  sake  of 
which  a  sinner  is  justified,  it  is  very  true  ;  and  Mr.  Sandeman's  op- 
ponents believed  it  no  less  than  he  himself:  but  if  be  meant  to  de 
ny  that  any  deed  or  thought  on  the  part  of  man  is  necessary  in  the 
established  order  of  things,  or  that  sinners  are  presented  spotless 
before  God  without  a  deed  or  a  thought  on  the  subject,  it  is  very 
false,  and  goes  to  deny  the  necessity  of  faith  to  salvation;  for  surely 
no  man  can  be  said  to  believe  in  Christ  without  thinking  of  him. 

Mr.  Pike,  who  had  embraced  Mr.  Sandeman's  views  of  faith, 
yet  says  to  him,  "  I  cannot  but  conceive  that  you  are  some- 
times mistaken  in  your  representations  of  what  you  call  the  popu- 
lar doctrine  ;  for  instance.  Upon  the  popular  plan,  say  you,  we  can 
never  have  peace  in  our  consciences  until  loe  be  sensible  of  some  be- 
ginning of  a  good  disposition  in  MS  towards  Christ.  Now,  setting 
aside  some  few  unguarded  expressions  and  addresses,  you  will  find 
that  the  general  drift  and  purport  of  their  doctrine  is  just  the  con- 
trary to  this  ;  and  they  labour  this  point,  both  Marshal  and  Her- 
vey,  to  convince  persons  that  nothing  of  this  nature  does  or  can  re- 
commend them  to  God,  or  be  any  part  of  their  justifying  righteous- 

*  Theionand  Aspasio,  Vol.  1.  p.  216.  t  Cooper's  Letters,  p.  33. 


Letter  n.]  OF  THE  SYSTKM.  3g, 

ncs<:  and  their  principal  \iewisto  beget,  or  draw  forth  such 
thoughts  in  the  mind  as  lead  the  soul  entirely  out  of  itself  to  Christ 
alone  for  righteousness,"*  It  is  observable  too,  that  though  Mr. 
S.  answered  this  letter  of  Mr.  Pike,  yet  he  takes  no  notice  of  this 
passage. 

I  am  not  vindicating  either  Marshall  or  Hervey,  in  all  their 
views:  but  justice  recpjires  that  this  misrepresentation  should  be 
corrected  ;  especially  as  it  nni^  through  the  whole  of  Mr.  Sande- 
man's  writings,  and  forms  the  basis  of  an  enormous  mass  of  invec- 
tive. 

By  works  opposed  to  grace  and  faith,  the  New  Testament  means 
works  done  with  a  vicv  of  obtaining  life;  or  of  procuring  acceptancr 
with  God  as  the  reicurd  of  them.  U  repentance,  faith,  or  sincere 
obedience  be  recommended  as  being  such  a  condition  of  salvation, 
as  that  God  may  be  expected  to  bestow  it  in  reward  of  them,  this 
is  turning  the  gospel  into  a  covenant  of  works,  and  is  as  much  op- 
posed to  grace,  and  to  the  true  idea  of  justification  by  faith,  as  any 
works  of  the  law  can  be.  But  to  deny  the  activity  of  the  soul  in 
believing,  lest  faith  itself  should  become  a  work  of  the  law,  and  so 
after  all  we  should  be  justified  by  a  work,  is  both  antiscriptural 
and  nugatory  :  antiscriptural,  because  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Bi- 
ble exhorts  sinners  to  forsake  their  ways  and  return  to  the  Lord, 
that  he  may  have  mercy  upon  them  :  to  believe  in  the  light,  that 
they  may  be  children  of  light ;  and  to  come  to  him,  that  they  may 
have  life  :— nugatory,  because  we  need  not  go  far  for  proof  that 
men  know  how  to  value  themselves  and  despise  others,  on  account 
of  their  notions,  as  well  as  of  their  actions  ;  and  so  are  capable  of 
making  a  righteousness. of  he  one,  as  well  as  of  the  other. 

Farther:  If  there  be  any  weight  in  Mr.  Sandeman's  argument, 
U  falls  equally  on  his  own  hypothesis  as  on  that  of  his  opponents. 
Thus  we  might  argue.  He  who  maintains  that  we  are  justified 
only  by  faith,  and  at  the  same  time  aflirms,  with  Mr.  Sandeman, 
that  faith  is  a  notion  formed  by  the  human  mind,  undoubtedly 
maintains,  if  he  have  any  meaning  to  his  words,  that  we  are  justi- 
hed  by  a  notion  formed  by  the  human  mind. 

*  Fpistolai  V  C'orrcspondenco,  p.  24, 
Vol.  III.  4P 


2g2  GENERAL  VIEW  [Letter  11. 

Mr.  S.  as  it  aware  of  his  exposedness  to  this  retort,  labourg,  in 
the  foregoing  quotation,  to  make  nothing  of  the  beUef  ofthe  truth, 
or  to  keep  every  idea  but  that  of  the  truth  beUeved  out  of  sight. 
So  fearful  is  he  of  making  faith  to  be  any  thing  which  has  a  real 
subsistence  in  the  mind,  that  he  plunges  into  gross  absurdity  to 
avoid  it.  Speaking  of  that  of  which  the  believer  is  "  conscious,'" 
he  makes  it  to  be  truth,  instead  ofthe  belief  o{  it;  as  if  any  thing 
could  be  an  object  of  consciousness  but  what  passes  or  exists  in 

the  mind ! 

It  may  be  thought,  that  the  phrase,  "All  who  would  have  us  to 
heco7iscio7is  of  something  else  than  the  bare  truth  ofthe  gospel," 
is  a  mere  slip  of  the  pen  ;  but  it  is  not;  for  had  Mr.  S,  spoken  of 
belief,  instead  ofthe  truth  believed,  as  an  object  of  consc.ousnesp, 
his  statement  would  have  been  manifestly  liable  to  the  conse- 
quence which  he  charges  on  his  opponents.  It  might  then  have 
been  said  to  him,  He  who  maintains  that  we  are  just.iied  only  by 
faith,  and  at  the  same  time  affirms  that  faith  is  something  inherent 
in  the  human  ,mnrf,  undoubtedly  maintains,  if  he  have  any  meaning 
to  his  words,  that  we  are  justified  by  somethmg  inherent  m  the  hu- 
man mind. 

You  must  by  this  time  perceive,  that  Mr.  Sandeman's  grand  ar- 
-ument,  or,  as  he  denominates  it,  his  "  easy  view,"  turns  out  to 
be  a  mere  sophism.  To  detect  it,  you  have  only  to  consider  the 
,ame  thing  in  different  views;  which  is  what  Mr.  Sandeman  himself 
does  on  some  occasions,  as  do  all  other  men.  "  I  agree  with  you," 
says  he  to  Mr.  Pike,  "  in  maintaining  that  faith  is  the  principle 
andspring  of  every  good  disposition,  or  of  every  good  work:  but,  at 
the  same  time,  I  maintain  that  faith  does  not  justify  the  ungodly  as 
a  principle  of  good  dispositions."*  Why  then  may  we  not  maintain 
that  we  are  justified  only  by  faith,  and  at  the  same  time  affirm  that 
faith  is  a  grace  inherent,  an  act  ofthe  human  mind,  arfwfy  command- 
ed of  God  ;  and  all  this  without  affirming  that  we  are  justified  by 
any  thing  inherent,  any  act  of  o.irs,  or  any  duty  that  we  perform  ? 
And  why  must  we  be  supposed  to  use  words  without  meaning,  or 
to  contradict  ourselves,  when  we  only  maintain  that  we  are  just.fi^ 

*  Epistolary  Corrcspoclencc,  p.  IQ. 


LSTTER II. J  OF  THE  SYSTEM.  363 

ed  by  that  wliich  is  inherent,  is  an  act  of  the  human  miud,  and  is  a 
•  luty;  while  yet  it  is  not  as  suchy  but  as  uniting  us  to  Christ,  and 
deriving  righteousness  from  him  that  it  justifies  ?* 

Assuredly,  there  is  no  necessity  for  reduciiig  faith  to  a  nullity? 
in  order  to  maintain  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  the  imputed 
righteousness  of  Christ.  While  we  hold  that  faith  justifies,  nut  in 
respect  of  the  act  of  believing,  but  of  the  righteousness  on  which  it  ter- 
minates, or  that  God's  pardoning  and  receiving  us  to  favour  is  in 
reward,  not  of  our  believing,  but  of  his  Son's  obedience  unto 
death,  every  purpose  is  answered,  and  all  inherent  righteousness 
is  excluded. 

I  have  been  the  more  particular  on  this  "  easy  view"  of  Mr. 
Sandeman,  because  it  is  manifestly  the  grand  pillar  of  his  doctrine. 
If  this  be  overturned,  there  is  nothing  left  standing  but  what  will 
fall  with  a  few  slight  touches  ;  and  whether  it  be  so,  I  now  leave 
you  and  the  reader  to  judge. 

To  establish  the  doctrine  of  free  justification,  Mr.  S.  conceives 
it  to  be  necessary  to  reduce  justifying  faith  to  a  bare  "  belief," 
exclusive  of  every  "  advance"  of  the  mind  towards  Christ,  or  of 
coming  to  Lim,  trusting  in  him,  iic.  and  to  maintaining  that  these 
terms  denote  the  effects  of  faith  in  those  who  are  already  in  a  jus- 
tified state.! 

in  opposing  Mr.  S.  many  have  denied  that  the  belief  of  the  gos- 
pel is  justifying  faith.  Observing,  on  the  one  hand,  that  numbers 
appear  to  believe  the  truth,  on  whom,  nevertheless,  it  has  no  sal- 
utary inllucnce;  and,  on  the  other,  that  believing  in  Christ  in  the 
New  Testament  is  synonymous  with  "  receiving  him,"  "  trusting 
in  him,"  and  "  coming  to  him,"  they  have  concluded  that  the  be- 
lief of  the  gospel  is  rather  to  be  considered  as  something  presuppo- 
sed in  faith,  than  faith  itself.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
belief  of  the  gospel  has,  in  a  great  number  of  instances,  the  prom- 
ise of  salvation;  and  as  to  those  nominal  Christians  on  whom  it  has 
QO  salutary  influence,  they  believe  Christ  no  more  than  the  Jews 
believed  Moses,  which  our  Lord  would  not  allow  that  they  did 

''  See  President  Edwards'  Sermons  on  Justification,  pp.  14. 36 
t  Epistolary  Correspondencp,  p.  34, 


364  GENERAL  VIEW  [Letter  IL 

If  ye  believed  Mosex,  says  he,  ye  xmould  believe  me,  for  he  wrote 
of  me. 

But  the  belief  of  the  gospel  is  allowed  to  have  the  promise  of 
salvation,  and  so  to  be  justifying,  yet  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is 
so  exclusive  of  receiving  Christ,  trusting  in  bin),  or  coming  to  him. 
It  were  easy  to  prove  that  repentance  has  the  promise  of  forgive- 
ness, and  that  by  as  great  a  variety  of  passages  as  are  brought  to 
prove  that  the  belief  of  the  gospel  is  saving  faith:  but  were  this  at- 
tempted, we  should  be  told,  and  justly  too,  that  we  are  not  to  con- 
sider repentance  in  these  passages,  as  excluding,  but  including 
faith  in  the  Saviour.  Such,  then,  is  the  answer  to  the  argument 
drawn  from  the  promises  of  salvation  made  to  the  belief  of  the 
gospel:  belief,  in  these  connexions,  is  not  to  be  understood  exclu- 
sive of  receiving  the  Saviour,  coming  to  him,  or  trusting  in  him; 
but  as  supposing  and  including  them. 

It  is  not  denied,  that  the  ideas  conveyed  by  these  terms  are  met- 
aphysically distinct  from  that  of  believing  the  gospel,  nor  that  they 
are  its  immediate  effects;  but  it  is  not  in  this  metaphysical  sense 
that  faith  is  used  in  reference  to  justification.  That  belief  which 
the  gospel  justifies,  includes  receiving  Christ,  coming  to  him,  and 
trusting  in  him.  Whatever  shades  of  difiference  there  be  between 
belief  and  these  "advances  of  the  mind  towards  Christ,"  the 
scriptures  represent  them,  with  respect  to  an  interest  in  justijiea- 
tion  and  other  collateral  blessings,  as  one  and  the  same  thing.  This 
is  manifest  from  the  following  passages:  As  many  as  received  him, 
to  them  gave  he  power  (or  privilege)  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even 
to  them  that  believe  on  his  name. — /  know  fchom  I  have  believed. 
and  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  commit- 
ted TO  HIM  against  that  day. — That  we  should  be  to  the  praise  and 
glory  of  his  grace,  who  first  trusted  in  Christ.  In  whom  ye  also 
TRUSTED  after  ye  heard  the  word  of  truth,  the  gospel  of  your  salva- 
tion; in  ichom  also,  after  ye  believed,  ye  were  sealed,  &c. — He  that 
COMETH  tome  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  BELiEVETHi/i  me  shall 
never  thirst. — Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye  may  have  life. — 
Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest. 


LettekII.]  of  THK  «YSTEM.  3q- 

Fn  tho<!C,  an«l  muny  other  passages,  it  is  manilVcl,  that  bclievin"-, 
romin<j,  trusting,  kc.  are  used  as  convertible  trrms,  nni]  that  the 
thiiip  signified  by  them  is  necessary  to  justification.  If  "  receiving"" 
Christ  wt^re  an  effect  of  faith  in  persons  already  justified,  why  is 
it  used  as  synonymous  with  it,  and  held  up  as  noces'^nry  to  our 
\}c\n^  the  soTis  of  God  ?  It  "  cominj:;"  to  Christ  were  an  exercise 
of  mind  in  one  who  was  already  in  a  state  of  justiric;ition,  why  is  he 
said  to  come  to  him  that  he  mat/  hai'e  life'  And  «'liy,  if  salvation 
be  promised  to  a  mere  '*  notion"  of  the  Irutli,  without  any  love  to 
it,  is  it  said  of  apostates  that  "they  received  not  the  love  of  the 
truth,  thai  they  might  he  saved''"  ?  Let  those  who  have  their  seu- 
>:e3  exercised  to  discern  between  good  and  evil,  judge  from  these 
thinirs,  whether  a  mere  notion  of  the  truth,  exclusive,  or,  if  you 
please,  antecedent  to  the  consideration  of  receiving  Christ,  comin" 
to  him,  and  trusting  in  him,  be  the  faith  that  justifies;  and  wheth- 
er, if  the  former  were  separate  from  the  latter,  it  would  not  leave 
the  sinner  under  condemnation. 

It  has  been  said  "In  defining  saving  faith,  some  have  included 
in  its  essence  almost  every  holy  temper;  and  by  insisting  so  much 
on  this  faith,  and  giving  such  laboured  descriptions  of  it,  have  al- 
most inevitably  led  their  followers  to  look  more  to  their  faith  than 
to  the  great  object  of  faith,  to  be  more  occupied  in  attending  to  the 
working  of  their  own  minds  than  with  that  truth  which  reconciles 
the  sinner  to  God.  It  is  in  consequence  to  be  feared  that  not  a  few 
who  are  reckoned  orthodox,  are  in  fact  trusting  to  their  faith,  and 
not  to  Christ,  making  him  merely  a  minister  of  their  own  self- 
righteousness:  for  we  may  go  about  to  establish  our  own  righteous- 
ness under  the  name  of  faith,  as  well  as  under  any  other  name." 

I  doubt  not  but  preachers  may  abound  in  describing  one  part  of 
divine  truth,  to  the  neglect  of  another,  and  may  go  even  beyond 
the  trutli  ;  people  also  may  make  a  righteousness  of  their  faith, 
as  well  as  of  other  things.  If  no  more  were  meant  than  that  a  sin- 
ner whose  enquiry  is,  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  ought  to  be 
directed  immediately  to  Christ,  and  not  to  an  examination  into  the 
nature  of  faith,  I  should  most  cordially  acquiesce  in  it:  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  nothing  should,  on  any  occasion,  be  said  of  the  true 
nature  of  faith.     There  may  be  a  time  when  the  same  person  shall 


366  GENERAL  VIEW  [Letter  II. 

come  with  another,  and  very  different  question;  namely,  Am  I  a 
true  believer  ?  Such  questions  there  must  have  been  in  the  Apos- 
tle's time,  or  there  would  not  have  been  answers  to  them.  (See  1 
John  ii.  3.  iii.  14.  18 — -21.)  Now,  in  answer  to  such  an  enquiry, 
the  true  nature  and  genuine  effects  of  faith  require  to  be  stated, 
and  distinguished  from  that  which  leaves  thousands  short  of  salva- 
tion. And  as  to  men  making  a  righteousness  of  their  faith,  men 
may  make  a  righteousness  of  simple  belief,  as  well  as  of  trust,  or 
any  other  idea  supposed  to  be  included  in  justifying  faith:  and 
whether  there  be  not  actually  as  much  laboured  description,  self- 
admiration,  and  contempt  of  others,  (things  nearly  akin  to  self- 
righteousness,)  among  the  advocates  of  this  system,  as  among  theii 
opponents,  let  the  candid  observer  judge.  If  we  are  to  say  noth- 
ing about  the  holy  nature  of  faith,  lest  men  should  make  a  right- 
eousness of  it,  we  must  say  nothing  of  any  thing  else  that  is  holy, 
for  the  same  reason,  and  so  cease  to  distinguish  all  true  religion  in 
the  mind,  from  that  which  is  counterfeit,  but  so  did  not  the  sacred 
writers. 

To  the  same  purpose  Mr,  M'Lean  writes  \n  his  treastise  on  the 
Commission:  "  Now  when  men  include  in  the  very  nature  of  jus 
tifying  faith  such  good  dispositions,  holy  affections,  and  pious  exer 
cises  of  heart,  as  the  moral  law  requires,  and  so  make  them  neces- 
sary (no  matter    under  what   consideration)  to  acceptation   with 
God,  it  perverts  the  Apostle's  doctrine  upon  this  important  sub- 
ject, and  makes  justification  to  be  at  least  as  it  were  by  the  works  of 
the  law." 

I  know  not  of  any  writer  who  has  given  such  a  definition  of  faith 
as  these  statements  would  represent.  No  more  holy  affection  is 
pleaded  for  in  faith,  than  unholy  disaffection  is  allowed  to  be  in 
unbelief.  But  the  design  is  manifestly  to  exclude  a// holy  affec- 
tion from  faith  as  being  favourable  to  self- righteousness. 

If,  therefore,  repentance  be  considered  as  necessary  to  forgive- 
ness, seeing  this  must  be  allowed  to  include  holy  affection,  it  will  be 
considered  as  fiivourable  to  self-righteousness.  And  as  to  distin- 
guishing between  what  is  necessary  in  the  established  order  of 
things,  from  what  is  necessary  as  a  procuring  cause,  this  will  not 
be  admitted;  for  it  is  "  no  matter  under  what  consideration:"  if 


l-KTTru  11]  OF  T!IE  SYSTKM.  3(J7 

any  thing  required  by  tlie  moral  law  he  rendered  necessary,  it 
makes  justifiralion  to  be  at  least  "  os  it  were  by  the  works  of  the 
law."  Yet  Mr.  M.  allows  faith,  whatever  it  is,  to  be  a  dutrj.  \% 
it  then  a  requirement  of  a  i\ew  and  remedial  law  ?  Would  not  the 
love  of  God,  wiiicli  is  required  by  the  old  law,  lead  any  sinner  to 
believe  in  Christ  ?  If  not,  why  is  unbelief  alleged  against  the 
Jews  as  a  proof  that  they  had  not  the  love  of  God  in  Ihera  ?  (See 
.John  V.  42,  4.3.)  As  Mr.  M.  however,  in  his  piece  on  the  Calls 
and  Invitations  of  the  Gospel,  has  gone  far  towards  answering  him- 
self, I  shall  transcribe  a  passage  from  that  performance  ;  "  It 
is  an  unscriptur.d  refinement  upon  divine  grace,"  he  there  says, 
'*  and  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles,  to  class  faith  and 
repentance  with  the  works  of  the  law,  and  to  state  thorn  as  equally 
opposite  to  free  justification.  Indeed,  neither  faith  nor  repentance 
are  the  meritorious,  or  procuring  cause  of  a  sinner's  justification, 
any  more  than  the  works  of  the  law  are.  (And  who  that  really 
l)elieves  and  repents  will  imagine  that  they  are  ?)  But  still  the 
one  is  opposed  to  free  justification,  the  other  not.  To  him  that 
vvorketh  is  the  reward  not  reckoned  of  grace,  but  of  debt  ;  and 
faith  and  repentance  corresponding  exactly  with  the  manifestation 
of  divine  grace,  as  freely  justifying  the  guilty  throagh  the  atone- 
ment, are  in  their  very  nature  opposite  to  all  self-dependence,*!and 
lead  men  to  glory  oidy  in  the  Lord."  (p.  2G.) 

Wc  see  here  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  repentance 
that  clashes  with  a  free  justification,  which  yet  must  be  allowed  to 
include  a  portion  of  holy  affection.  Why  then  object  to  the  same 
thing  in  faith  ?  Is  it  because  holy  affection  is  "required  by  the 
moral  law"  ?  Be  it  so,  it  is  the  same  in  repentance  as  in  faith  ; 
and  if  the  one  may  in  its  very  nature  agree  with  a  free  justifica- 
tion, so  may  the  other.  The  truth  is.  the  moral  law  materially 
considered,  is  not  opposed  to  free  justification.  The  love  of  God 
and  man  in  its  own  nature  is  as  opposite  to  self-righteous  pride  as 
faith  and  repentance  are.  It  is  not  the  law  that  is  against  the 
promises,  but  those  works  of  the  law  done  by  a  sinful  ereatnre  with 
a  view  of  obtaining  life,  or  of  procuring  acceptance  with  God  as  the 
reward  of  them.  If  holy  affection  were  urged  with  such  a  view, 
then  were  it  oppot-ed  to  the  free  grace  of  the  gospel ;  but  while 


.>db 


GENERAL  VIEW  [Letter  il. 


liiis  is  not  the  case,  all  such  reasonings  are  unscriptural  reline- 
ments. 

If  men  make  a  righteousness  of  their  faith,  it  is  not  owing  to 
ihese  representations  of  it,  but  to  their  own  corruptions  ;  for  let 
faith  include  what  good  disposition  it  may,  it  is  no  part  of  the  mer- 
itorious cause  of  justification  ;  and  let  it  be  simplified  as  it  may, 
even  till  it  shall  contain  no  more  of  the  holy  nature  of  God  than  a 
glance  of  the  eye,  yet  it  is  not  on  this  account  more  friendly  to  the 
doctrine  of  grace,  nor  less  liable  to  become  the  food  of  a  self- 
righteous  spirit.  The  way  in  which  this  spirit  is  cut  up  in  the 
New  Testament  is,  not  by  reducing  faith  to  an  unfeeling  specula- 
tion, but  by  denouncing  the  curse  against  every  one  who  cometh 
short  of  perfect  obedience.     Gal.  iii.  10. 

It  has  been  further  said,  "  Faith  purifies  the  heart,  worketh  by 
love,  and  discovereth  itself  sincere  by  the  performance  of  good 
works.  Faith,  therefore,  is  not  holiness,  love,  or  new  obedience, 
unless  the  effect  is  the  same  with  the  cause,  or  the  evidence  with 
the  thing  proved.  Faith  certainly  is  not  the  same  thing  as  holi- 
ness, or  love,  or  new  obedience.  Neither  is  unbelief  the  same 
thing  as  unholiness,  enmity  or  disobedience :  but  it  is  not  so 
distinct  from  either,  as  not  to  partake  of  the  same  general 
nature.  It  is  not  only  the  root  of  all  other  sin,  but  is  itself 
a  sin.  In  like  manner,  faitii  is  not  only  the  root  of  all  other 
obedience,  but  is  itself  an  exercise  of  obedience.  It  is  called 
'•'  obeying  the  truth,"  and  "  obeying  the  gospel."  To  say 
that  faith  includes  no  holiness,  (which  this  objection  certainly 
does,)  and  yet  produces  it,  as  the  seed  produces  the  plant,  is  to 
contradict  the  established  laws  of  nature,  according  to  which,  ev- 
ery seed  produces  Us  own  body.  God  can  produce  something  out 
of  nothing,  but  in  the  ordinary  course  of  traduction  every  seed 
produces  after  its  kind.  If  holiness,  therefore,  were  not  inclu- 
ded in  faith,  it  would  not  grow  out  of  it. 

Mr.  M'Lean  does  not  agree  with  Mr.  Sanrlernan  in  considering 
faith  as  a  passive  admission  of  the  truth,  but  allows  it  to  be  an  act 
ftr  exercise  of  the  mind.*     A  large  part  of  his  work,  however,  is 

•'   Reply,  pp.  74,  75. 


Letteii  II.]  of  the  SYSTEM.  355 

taken  up  in  attempting  to  proye  that  it  is  a  mere  exercise  of  the 
underetantling,  exclusive  of  every  thing  pertaining  to  the  will  and 
iUTections.  It  is  no  part  of  the  question  between  him  and  me, 
whether,  properly  speaking,  it  has  its  teat  in  the  understanding  ; 
for  this  it  may  have,  and  yet  be  influenced  by  the  disposition.  Un- 
belief has  its  seat  in  the  understanding  as  much  as  belief,  yet  it  is 
not  denied  that  this  is  influenced  by  the  disposition.  "  It  arises," 
says  Mr.  M'Lean,  "  not  merely  from  ignorance,  but  also  from  the 
aversion  of  the  will,  whereby  the  judgment  is  blinded,  and  most 
unreasonably  prejudiced  against  the  truth."*  Nor  had  Mr. 
M'Lcan  any  just  ground  for  construing  what  I  had  said  in  proof  of 
faith  in  Christ  being  such  a  belief  as  arises  from  a  renewal  of  the 
spirit  of  the  mind,  as  an  attempt  to  "  prove  that  faith  is  more  than 
belief,  (p.  80.)  He  allows  unbelief  to  arise,  in  part  from  disposi- 
tion ;  yet  I  suppose  he  would  not  be  thought,  by  this  concession, 
to  make  it  something  more  than  unbelief.  If  unbelief  may  consist 
in  such  a  discredit  of  the  gospel  as  arises  from  aversion  to  it,  and 
yet  be  nothing  more  than  unbelief;  faith  may  consist  in  such  a 
credit  of  the  gospel  as  arises  from  a  renewal  of  the  spirit  of  the 
mind,  and  yet  be  nothing  more  than  belief 

To  this  may  be  added,  if  faith  in  Christ  be  a  duty  commanded  of 
God,  an  act  of  the  human  mind,  an  exercise  of  obedience  to  God, 
(all  of  which  Mr.  M.  acknowledges,)  it  must  he  the  effect  of  regen- 
eration, or  it  will  follow,  that  ihey  that  are  in  the  flesh  may  please 
Cod. 

Mr.  M'Lean  speaks  much  o( simple  belief,  as  Mr.  Sandeman  did 
of  6are  belief.  Mr.  S.  manifestly  intended  hereby  to  exclude  eve- 
ry "advance"  of  the  sinner  to  Christ,  as  signified  by  such  terms  as 
coming  to  Christ,  trustirig  in  him,  &c.  from  justifying  faith.  Such 
njay  be  the  intention  of  Mr.  M'Lean  :  if  it  be  not,  1  do  not  under- 
stand the  use  of  the  epithet.  He  caimot.  however,  consistently 
reject  every  ''  adviuice  of  the  mind  to  Christ  as  belonging  to  justi- 
fying faith,  since  he  acknowledges  the  soul  to  be  active  in  believ- 
ing. But,  while  dwelling  so  much  on  simple  belief,  why  does  he 
not  dwell  also  on  simple  unbelief?     If  belief  be  simple  so  must 

*  Reply,  p.  76 
Vol.  in.  47 


37(i  GENERAL  VIEW  [Letter  H. 

unbelief,  for  they  are  opposites.  And  I  readily  acknowledge  there 
are  such  things  as  simple  belief  and  simple  unbelief;  but  neither 
of  them  apply  to  the  credit  or  discredit  of  the  gospel.  If  a  stran- 
ger who  has  no  claim  on  my  confidence,  relate  a  story  of  some- 
thing that  he  has  seen  in  a  distant  country,  but  which  in  no  way 
concerns  me,  I  may  believe  him,  or  disbelieve  him  ;  my  faith  in 
the  one  case,  or  my  unbelief  in  the  other,  would  be  perfectly 
simple.  But  if  it  be  a  story  of  deep  interest,  if  the  undoubted 
veracity  of  the  party  have  a  claim  on  my  confidence,  and  if  my  fu- 
ture course  of  life  turns  upon  the  credit  or  discredit  that  1  give 
him,  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  will  be  simple,  but  compound- 
ed of  a  number  of  moral  principles  which  influence  my  decision  ; 
if  to  discredit  his  testimony,  they  are  prejudices  which  blind  me  to 
the  force  of  evidence  :  if  to  credit  it,  candour  or  openness  to  con- 
viction. It  is  thus  in  believing  the  gospel,  which  is  a  sabject  of 
the  deepest  interest,  testified  by  a  Being  whose  veracity  it  is  a 
crime  to  question,  and  of  such  consequence  to  a  sinner,  even  in 
this  life,  that  if  he  admit  it,  he  must  relinquish  all  his  former  cour- 
ses and  live  a  new  life.  Intrenched  in  pi-ejudice,  self-righteous- 
ness, and  the  love  of  sin,  he  continues  an  unbeliever  till  these 
strong  holds  are  beaten  down  ;  nor  will  he  believe  so  long  as  a 
wreck  of  them  remains  sufficient  to  shelter  him  against  the  arrows 
of  conviction;  nor,  in  short,  till  by  the  renovating  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  they  fall  to  the  ground.  It  is  then,  and  not  till  then, 
that  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  mere  grace,  through  a  mediator, 
is  cordially  believed. 

Mr.  M'Lean,  in  his  arguing  for  what  he  calls  simple  belief, 
seems  to  be  aware  that  it  is  not  the  proper  opposite  of  unbelief 
as  described  in  the  scriptures.  Hence  he  somewhere  alleges  that 
we  cannot  reason  from  the  nature  of  unbelief  to  that  of  belief,  any 
more  than  from  that  of  demerit  to  merit.  But  the  disparity  between 
demerit  and  merit,  to  which  he  refers,  does  not  respect  their  nature, 
but  the  condition  of  the  party  who  is  the  subject  of  them.  Merit  is 
the  desert  of  good,  and  demerit  the  desert  of  evil ;  they  are,  there- 
fore, properly  opposites,  whatever  may  be  the  condition  of  the 
party  as  to   being  equally  capable   of  exercising  them  ;  and  it 


Letter  II.J  OF  THE  SYSTEM.  37  j 

is   fair  in  ascertaining  their  nature  to  argue  from  the  one  to  tbt 
other. 

Upon  the  whole,  I  see  no  reason  to  retract  what  I  have  in  sub- 
stance said  before,  that  if  faith  and  unbelief  be  opposites,  (which 
to  deny,  were  disowning  that  which  is  self-evident,)  the  one  can 
be  no  more  simple,  or  exclusive  of  the  influence  of  the  will,  than 

the  other. 

I  am  yours,  Sic. 


LETTER  III. 


CONTAINING       A     MORE     PARTICULAR     IN<IUIRY     INTO     TUF.     CONSE- 
qOKNCES  OK    MR.    SANDEMAN's  NOTION  OF    .USTIFYINC.  FAITH . 


My  Dear  Friend, 

Yoi'  uill  not  conclude,  from  any  thing  I  have  said,  or  may  yet 
say,  that  I  accuse  every  one  who  favours  this  doctrine  of  holding 
all  the  consequences  which  may  be  proved  to  arise  from  it  :  it  i? 
however,  a  fair  method  of  trying  a  principle  by  pointing  out  other 
principles  to  which  it  leads,  which,  if  contrary  to  the  scriptures, 
furnish  reasons  for  rejecting  it. 

If  the  faith  by  which  we  are  justified  be  a  mere  passive  recep- 
tion of  light,  or  contain  no  exercise  of  affection,  it  follows  : 

First,  That  repentance  is  not  necessary  to  forgiveness.  It  is  al- 
lowed, on  all  hands,  that  justification  includes  the  forgiveness  of 
sin.  Whatever  differences  there  be  between  them,  they  are  not 
so  different  but  that  he  who  is  justified  is  forgiven.  If  therefore 
we  be  justified  by  a  mere  notion  of  the  truth  antecedently  to  all 
exercise  of  aflection,  we  are  forgiven  in  the  same  way  ;  that  is 
our  sins  are  forgiven  before  we  repent  of  them. 

Mr.  Sandeman,  I  conceive,  would  have  avowed  this  conse- 
scquence.  Indeed  he  does  avow  it,  in-efifect,  in  declaring  that 
"  he  can  never  begin  to  love  God  till  he  first  see  him  just  in  jus- 
tifying him,  ungodly  as  he  stands.  If  he  cannot  begin  to  love  God 
he  cannot  begin  to  be  sorry  for  having  sinned  against  him,  unless 
it  be  for  the  consequences  which  it  has  brought  upon  himself. 
By  being  justified  "  ungodly  as  he  stands,"  he  means  to  say, 
therefore,  that  he  is  justified  and  forgiven,  while  his  mind  is  in  a 
:»tate  of  impenitence,  and  that  it  is  the  consideration  of  this  that 
renders  him  penitent. 


,74  CONSEQUENCES  OF  LLktter  HI 

Whether  this  notion  be  not  in  direct  opposition  to  the  whole 
current  of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  let  the  following  pas- 
sages, out  of  many  more  which  might  be  selected,  determine. 
I  said  I  will  confess  my  transgressions  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  thou 
FORGAVKST  the  iniquity  of  my  sin. — If  thy  people  Israel  sin  aginst 
thee,  and  repent,  and  make  supplication  unto  thee  towards  this 
house,  then  hear  thou  from  heaven  thy  dwelling  place  and  forgive 
thy  people. — He  that  covereth  his  sins  shall  not  prosper  :  but  whoso 
confesseth  andforsaketh  them  shall  find  mercy.  Let  the  wicked 
FORSAKE  HIS  WAY,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts,  and  let 
him  RETURN  UKTO  THE  LoRD,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him, 
and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  parpon.  Thus  it  behoved 
Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  and  that 
repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name 
amovg  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem. — Repent  therefore  and 
be  baptised,  every  one  of  you,  for  the  remission  of  sins. — Repent 
ye  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that  your  sin?  may  be 
BLOTTED  OUT. — Him  hath  God  exalted  a  prince,  and  a  Saviour,  to 
give  repentance  to  Israel,  and  the  fokgivkness  of  sins. — 
J/"  ti^e  CONFESS  OUR  SINS,  he  is  faithfal  and  just  <o  forgive  us 

•UR  SINS,  AND  TO  CLEANSE  US  FROM  ALL  UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. 

I  shall  not  stop  here  to  inquire  into  the  order  in  which  the 
scriptures  represent  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  towards 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  I  shall  attend  to  in  a  letter  by  itself. 
It  is  suflficient  at  present  to  observe,  that  whatever  be  the  order 
of  repentance  in  respect  of  faith,  it  is  uniformly  represented  in 
the  scriptures  as  necessary  to  forgiveness.  Every  notion,  there- 
fore, of  standing  forgiven  in  a  state  of  impenitence,  and  of  this 
being  the  only  motive  that  can  lead  a  sinner  to  repentance,  is  false 
and  delusive. 

Secondly  :  On  this  principle,  faith  in  Christ  is  not  a  duty,  and 
unbelief  is  not  a  sin.  I  am  not  sure  whether  Mr.  Sandeman 
would  have  avowed  both,  or  either  of  these  consequences.  He, 
however,  utterly  disavows  urging  unbelievers  to  the  least  shadow 
of  obedience  to  the  gospel  in  order  to  justification,  as  leading  them 
to  establish  their  own  righteousness.*     The  faith,  therefore,  which 

*  Epistolary  Correspondence,  p.  29. 


Letter  lll.j  MR.  S.'S  NOTION  OF  FAITH.  37^ 

he  allows  to  be  necessary  to  justification,  includes  no  obedience, 
which  is   the  same  thing  as  its  being  no  duty.     And  if  it  be  not  u 
duly,  unbelief  is  not  a  sin  ;  for  where  there  is  no  obligation,  there 
M\  be  no  transgression. 

But  a  system  which  goes  to  nullify  the  command  of  God  to  be- 
lieve in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  excuse  the  sin  which  is  threat- 
ened with  eternal  damnation,  must  be  fundamentally  erroneous, 
as  far  as  it  operates,  subversive  of  true  religion. 

Mr.  -AI'Lean  is  very  far  from  admitting  this  consequence,  thougb 
he  retains,  in  part,  the  principle  from  which  it  proceeds.  He  al- 
lows, as  we  have  seen  already,  that  faith  is  a  duti/,  an  act  of  obe- 
dience to  God,  and  a  holt/  exercise  of  mind  ;  yet  he  pleads  for  its 
containg  nothing  pertaining  to  the  will.  Is  it  possible  then  for  any 
thing  to  be  either  an  act,  or  a  duty,  or  to  contain  obedience,  which 
IS  purely  intellectual  ?  In  whatever  belongs  to  the  understanding 
only,  exclusive  of  the  will  and  affections,  the  soul,  I  conceive,  is 
passive.  There  are  acts,  no  doubt,  which  pertain  to  the  intellec- 
tual, as  well  as  to  the  visive  faculty  :  but  they  art  only  such  as  fall 
under  the  influence  of  the  will.  It  is  an  act  to  look,  but  not  to 
see  ;  and  to  collect  information,  but  not  to  be  informed.  If  there- 
fore, believing  be  an  act  of  the  mind,  it  must  fall  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  will. 

Mr.  Sandeman  is  consistent  with  himself;  however  inconsistent 
he  may  be  with  the  scriptures.  In  confining  faith  to  the  under- 
standing, he  was  aware  that  he  disowned  its  being  an  act,  and  there 
fore,  in  his  usual  strain  of  banter,  selected  some  of  the  grossest 
representations  of  his  opponents,  and  endeavoured  to  hold  up  acts 
of  faith  to  ridicule.  But  Mr.  M'Lean  allows  of  faith  being  an  act, 
and  an  act  of  obedience,  and  yet  will  have  it  that  it  contains  noth- 
ing pertaining  to  the  will,  except  in  its  cfl'ects.  I  can  no  other- 
wise account  for  such  reasoning,  in  a  writer  of  his  talents,  than 
by  ascribing  it  to  the  influence  of  early  prejudices,  contracted  by 
having  drunk  too  deeply  into  the  system  of  Mr.  S.  and  retained  by 
a  partiality  for  what  he  had  once  imbibed,  though  utterly  incon- 
sistent with  other  sentiments  which  he  has  since  learned  from  the 
."jcriptures.  That  nothing  can  contain  obedience  but  that  which 
includes  the  stale  or  exercises  of  the  will,  or  has  some  dependence 


37t»  COiN SEQUENCES  OF  tLKXTTR  111, 

upon  it,  is  manitest  from  universal  experience.  Tell  a  man  that 
God  has  commandetl  him  to  be  or  to  do  that  in  which  he  is  ab- 
solutely involuntary,  and  that  tUe  contrary  is  a  sin  ;  and  see  wheth- 
er you  can  fasten  conviction  on  hie  conscience.  Nay,  make  the 
experiment  on  yourself.  Did  you  ever  perceive  yourself  obliged 
to  any  thing  in  which  your  will  had  no  concern,  or  for  a  moment 
repent  of  living  in  the  neglect  of  it  ?  Knowledge  may  be  a  duty, 
and  ignorance  a  sin,  so  far  as  each  is  dependant  on  the  will,  and 
comprehensive  of  approbation,  but  no  further.  Love  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  laio,  or  that  which  comprehends  the  whole  of  duty. 
So  much,  therefore,  as  there  is  of  love  in  any  exercise  of  mind,  so 
much,  there  is  of  duty  or  obedience,  and  no  more.  Duty  suppo- 
ses knowledge,  indeed,  as  Christianity  supposes  humanity;  but 
the  essence  of  it  consists  in  disposition.  It  may  be  our  duty  to 
examine  and  that  with  care,  dilligence,  and  impartiality  ;  but  if 
disposition  have  no  place  in  faith,  it  cannot  be  our  duty  to  believe. 

If  faith  be  merely  light  in  the  understanding,  unbelief  must  be 
merely  the  absence  of  it  :  and  if  the  former  include  nothing  per- 
taining to  the  will,  neither  does  the  latter.  To  say,  that  though 
unbelief  contain  a  voluntary  rejection  of  the  truth,  yet  faith  con- 
tains no  voluntary  reception  of  it,  is  saying  that  belief  and  unbe- 
lief are  not  opposites,  which  is  equal  to  denying  a  self-evident 
proposition.  If  the  one  be  purely  intellectual,  so  is  the  other  ; 
and  if  there  be  no  obedience  ia  the  tirst,  there  is  no  disobedience 
in  the  last. 

Mr.  M'Lean  has  said  every  thing  on  this  subject  that  I  could  de- 
sire, except  drawing  the  conclusion.  Thus  he  reasons,  when 
proving  faith  to  be  a  duty  :  "Unbelief,  which  is  the  opposite  of 
faith,  is  always  represented  as  a  very  great  and  heinous  sin  against 
God.  The  unbelieving  heart  is  termed  an  evil  heart ;  (Heb.  iii. 
12.)  and  that  there  are  many  evils  in  the  heart  of  man  which  both 
occasion  and  attend  unbelief.  It  is  frequently  ascribed  to  igno- 
rance ;  (Matt.  xiii.  19.  Rom.  x.  3.  xi.  7.  25.)  yet  not  to  simple 
ignorance,  from  want  of  information  or  neutral  capacity  in  which 
case  it  would  be  excusable  ;  (John  ix.  41.  xv.  22.  24.)  but  such 
as  arises  from  the  agency  of  the  god  of  this  world,  blinding  the 
minds  of  them  that  believe  not,  (2  Cor.  iv.  4.)     It  is  wilful  igno- 


Letter  111.]  MR.  S's.  NOTION  OF  FAITH.  377 

tance,  occasioned  by  their  loving  darkness  and  hating  the  light  ; 
(John  iii.  19,  20.)  and  so  they  are  represented  as  having  closed 
their  eyes  lest  they  should  see.  Matt.  xiii.  15.  From  this  it  ap- 
pears, that  unbelief  is  founded,  not  merely  on  simple  ignorance, 
but  aversion  from  the  things  of  God. 

"Now,  if  unbelief  be  a  sin,  and  seaterl  in  the  depravity  of  the 
heart,  as  has  been  shown,  it  necessarily  follows  that  faith,  its  op- 
posite, must  be  a  duty,"  [and  have  its  seat  also  in  the  heart.]  Ser 
mons,  pp.  40,41.  The  words  added  in  crotchets  merely  go  to 
draw  the  conclii?-ion  ;  and  whether  it  be  fairly  drawn,  let  the  read- 
er judge. 

Mr.  M.  cannot  consistently  object,  that  by  allowing  unbelief  to 
be  seated  in  the  heart,  he  did  not  mean  to  grant  that  it  was  seated 
in  the  will,  since  his  whole  argument  asserts  the  contrary  ;  and 
he  elsewhere  says,  "  The  Scriptures  always  represent  the  regen- 
erating and  sanctifying  influences  of  the  spirit  as  exerted  upon  the 
heart  ;  which  includes  not  only  the  understanding,  but  the  will  and 
affections,  or  thcprcvalent  inclinations  and  dispositions  of  the 
soul."       Works,  Vol.  II.  p.  91. 

I  had  said,  (in  my    Appendix,)  '  I  can  scarcely    conceive  of  a 
truth  more  self-evident  than   this,   that  God's  commands  extend 
only  to  that  which  comes  under  the  influence  of  the  will.'     Mr. 
M.  allows  this  to  be  "  a  principle  on  which  my  main    arguments 
seem  to  be   grounded."     It  became  him,  therefore,  if  he   were 
able,  to  give  it  a  solid  answer.     And  what  is  his  answer  /  It  is   so 
far,  he  says,  from  being  self-evident,  that  to  him  it  docs   not  ap- 
pear evident  at  all.     He  should  instance,  then  in  something  which 
is  allowed  not  to  come  under  the  influence  of  the  will,  but  which, 
nevertheless  is  a  duty.     Instead  of  this,   he  says,  the  commands 
of  God  "  extend  not  only  to  what   comes  under  the  influence  of 
the  will,  but  also  to  the  belief  of  the  revealed  truths  and  motives  by 
which  the  will  itself  is  influenced.''^*     But  who  does  not  perceive 
that  this  is  proving  a  thing  by  itself;  or  alleging  as  evidence    that 
which  is  the  very  point  in  dispute  ? 

The  argument  was  this  :  All  duty  comes  under  the  influence  of 
the  will — but   faith  is  a  duty — therefore  faith  comes  under   the 

'  Reply,  p.  70. 
Vol..   III.  48 


378  COiNSEQUEN'CES  OF  [Letter  III 

influence  of  the  will.  To  have  overturned  the  first  of  these 
propositions,  which  is  that  which  calls  in  question,  he  should  have 
shown  by  something  el«e  than  belief,  something  that  is  allowed  not 
to  come  under  the  influence  of  the  will,  that  it  may,  nevertheless, 
be  commanded  of  God.  But  this  he  has  not  shown,  nor  attempt- 
ed to  show. 

All  that  Mr.  M'Loan  has  done  towards  answering  this  argument 
is  by  labouring  to  fasten  certain  absurdities  upon  it.  "  If  belie- 
ving God  with  the  understanding,"  he  says,  "  be  not  a  duty,  it 
ifiust  be  either  because  he  has  not  given  a  clear  revelation  of 
the  truth,  and  supported  it  with  siifHcient  evidence,  or  if  he  has, 
that  there  is  no  moral  turpitude  in  mental  error."* 

By  this  way  of  writing,  it  would  seem  as  if  I  pleaded  for  men's 
believifig  without  their  understanding,  of  which  I  certainly  have 
no  idea,  any  more  than  of  their  disbelieving  vvithout  it.  I  hold  no 
more  in  respect  of  faith,  than  Mr.  M.  does  in  respect  of  unbelief; 
namely,  that  it  does  not  pertain  to  the  understanding  only.  The 
greatest  evidence  of  authority  cannot  oblige  us  to  that  in  which  we 
are  obsolutely  involuntary.  God  commands  us  to  love  him  with 
all  our  powers,  but  not  beyond  our  powers.  To  love  him  with 
all  our  hearts  includes  every  thing  that  depends  upon  disposition, 
even  the  bowing  of  our  understandings  to  revealed  truth,  instead 
of  proudly  rejecting  it  ;  but  that  is  all.  So  far  as  knowledge  or 
belief  is  absolutely  involuntary,  we  might  as  well  ascribe  duty  to 
the  convulsive  motions  of  the  body  as  to  them.  And  as  to  "  men- 
tal error,"  if  it  could  be  proved  to  be  merely  mental ;  that  is,  not 
to  arise  from  indolence,  prejudice,  aversion,  or  any  other  evil  dis- 
position, it  would  be  innocent.  Christ  did  not  criminate  the  Jews 
for  simply  misunderstanding  him,  but  refers  to  the  cause  of  that 
misunderstanding  as  the  ground  of  censure.  Why  do  ye  not  un- 
derstand my  speech  ?  because  ye  cannot  hear  my  word  :"  that  is, 
because  they  were  utterly  averse  to  it.  Mr.  M'Lean  acknowl- 
edges as  much  as  this,  when  he  speaks  of  the  neglect  of  the 
great  j^alvation  being  the  efTect  of  "  perverseness  and  aversion,  and 
therefore  inexcusable."  What  is  this  but  admitting  that  if  it  arose 
from  simple  ignorance  it  would  be  excusable  ? 

*  Reply,  p.  76. 


ETTERlIl.l  MR.  Ss  NOTION   OK   K.MTM.  379 

Another  consequence  which  .Mr.  .M.  endcMvours  to  fasten  upon 
this  principle  is,  ''  If  liiith  be  not  a  duty  unless  it  be  influenced  by 
the  moral  state  of  the  heart,  then  it  can  be  no  man's  duty  to  be- 
lieve the  testimony  of  God  concerning  his  son  till  he  is  prcviouslt/ 
possessed  of  that  mortal  state.''*  But  if  this  conse([uence  were 
just,  it  would  follow  from  his  own  principles  as  well  as  mine.  He 
considers  the  illumination  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  necessary  to  be- 
lieving ;  but  does  he  infer  that  till  such  illumination  take  place, 
it  is  not  a  sinner's  duty  to  believe  ?  He  also  considers  repentance 
as  the  fruit  of  faith  ;  but  does  he  infer  that  till  a  sinner  is  in  pos- 
session of  faith,  it  is  not  his  duty  to  repent  ?  The  truth  is,  that 
God,  in  requiring  any  one  duty,  (be  it  repentance  or  faith,  or 
what  it  may,)  requires  that,  as  to  the  state  of  mind,  which  is  ne- 
cessary to  it.  It  was  not  the  duty  of  Absalom  to  ask  pardon  of 
David  without  feeling  sorry  for  his  offence  :  but  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  while  his  heart  was  hardened  he  was  under  no  obligation 
to  ask  pardon.  He  was  under  obligation  to  both  ;  and  so  are 
men  with  regard  to  believing  the  gospel.  They  are  obliged  to  be 
of  an  open,  upright,  unprejudiced  mind,  and  so  to  believe  the 
truth. 

If  faith  be  a  duty,  believing  is  a  holy  exercise  of  the  mind  ; 
for  what  else  is  holiness  but  a  conformity  of  mind  to  the  revealed 
will  of  God  ?  Mr.  M.  allows  of  a  belief  which  is  "  merely  nat- 
ural," and  that  it  has  '•  no  holiness  in  it."  He  also  allows  that 
which  has  the  promise  of  salvation  is  holy.  So  far  then  he  seems 
to  be  agreed.  Yet  when  he  conies  (o  state  wherein  its  holiness 
consists,  he  seems  to  resolve  every  thing  into  the  cause,  and  the 
nature  of  the  truth  believed.]  Each  of  these,  indeed,  afford  proof 
of  the  holy  nature  of  faith  :  but  to  say  that  it  consists  in  cither, 
is  to  place  the  nature  of  a  thing  in  its  cause,  and  in  the  object  on 
which  it  terminates.  The  objects  of  belief  are  exactly  the  same 
as  those  of  unbelief ;  but  it  will  not  be  alleged,  I  presume,  that 
vinbelief  is  a  holy  exercise  ! 

The  sum  is,  Mr.  M.  thinks  he  ascribes  duty  and  holiness  to 
faith  ;  but  his  hypothesis  is  inconsistent  uith  both.  And  this  is 
all  that  I  ever  meant  to  charge  him  with.     It  never  was  in    my 

*Rerly,  rT3.  tibid.  p.  67 


3S0  CONSEQUENCES  OF  [Letter  III. 

heart  to  "  impeach  his  honesty,*"  though  he  has  more  than  once 
impeached  mine. 

Thirdly  :  On  this  principle,  calls,  invitations,  and  exhortations 
to  believe  have  no  place  in  the  Christian  ministry.  To  call,  invite, 
or  exhort  a  man  to  that  in  which  his  will  has  no  concern,  is  self- 
evident  absurdity.  Every  man  must  feel  it,  if  he  only  makes  the 
experiment.  Mr.  Sandeman  is  aware  of  this,  and  therefore  utterly 
gives  up  the  practice,  declaring  that  the  whole  of  what  he  has  to 
offer  is  evidence.  He  says,  "  I  would  set  before  him  (the  sinner) 
all  the  evidence  furnished  me  by  the  gospel.  Thus,  and  thus 
only,  would  1  press,  call,  invite,  exhort,  or  urge  him  to  believe."! 
That  is,  he  would  not  press,  call,  invite,  exhort,  or  urge  him  to 
believe  at  all.  So  far  he  is  consistent  with  himself,  though  at  the 
utmost  variance  with  the  scriptures. 

God,  however,  by  the  prophets  and  apostles,  did  not  barely  of- 
fer evidence,  but  addressed  every  power  and  passion  of  the  human 
mind.  Mr.  Sandeman  may  call  this  "  human  clamour,  pressing 
men  on  to  the  blind  business  of  performing  some  task  called  believ- 
ing ;"  but  this  will  prove  nothing  but  his  dexterity,  when  pressed 
with  an  ai'gument  which  he  cannot  answer,  at  turning  it  off  by  rail- 
lery. The  clamour  of  the  prophets  and  apostles  was  such  as  fol- 
lows :  Kiss  the  Son  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way. — 
Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  tvaters,  and  he  that 
hath  no  money ;  come  ye,  buy  and  eat;  yea  come,  buy  wine  and 
milk  without  money,  and  without  price.  Wherefore  do  ye  spend 
money  for  that  which  is  not  bread,  and  your  labour  for  that  which 
satisfeth  not  ?  Hearken  diligently  unto  me,  and  eat  ye  that  which  is 
good  and  let  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness.  Incline  your  ear 
and  come  unto  me;  hear  and  your  soul  shall  live;  and  I  will 
make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of 
David. 

If  this  figurative  language  should  be  thought  to  leave  the  sub- 
ject in  doubt,  the  following  verses  express  the  same  sentiments 
without  a  figure  :  Seek  ye  the  Lord  wldle  he  may  be  found ;  call  ye 
upon  him  while  he  is  near :  let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the 
iinrighteous  man  his  thoughts  ;  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord^ 

*  Reply,  p.  64.  t  Epistolary  Correspondence,  p.  8. 


Lkttek  III. J  MR.  S*8.  NOTION  OF  FAITH.  381 

Olid  he  icill  have  merry  upon  him  ;  and  to  our  God,  for  he  wiH 
abundant  I  ij  pardon.  Look  unto  me,  and  be  yc  saiicd,  all  the  ends 
of  the  earth;  for  I  am  God,  and  there  ia  none  else. — Tlius  aaith  the 
Lord,  stand  ye  vi  the  irays  and  see,  andaakfor  the  old  paths,  where, 
fs  the  good  roay,  and  iralk  therein,  and  ye  shall  Jind  rest  for  your 
.touk. — Come  unto  me  all  yc  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
"xill  give  you  rest.  Take  luy  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  mc  ;  for 
I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart :  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  soult. 
Repent  ye,  and  believe  the  gospel. — Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink! — JFliile  ye  have  the  light,  believe  in 
the  light,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  light . — Labour  not  for  the 
meat  that  perisheth,  but  for  that  which  endureth  to  everlasting  life. 
Compel  them  to  come  in,  that  my  house  may  be  filled. — Repent  and 
be  converted  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out. — Draw  nigh  to  God 
and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you.  Cleanse  your  hands,  ye  sinners  ;  and 
purify  your  hearts,  ye  double  minded.  Be  afflicted,  and  mourn,  and 
neep. — Humble  yourselves  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  lift 
you  up. — All  things  are  of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself 
by  Jesus  Christ,  and  hath  given  to  us  the  ministry  of  reconciliation. 
J\'ow  then  we  arc  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  be- 
seech (men)  by  us,  tec  pray,  (them)  in  Christ's  stead,  (saying) 
be  ye  reconrilcd  to  Cod. 

Mr.  Sandetnan  may  tell  us  that  the  character  of  ambassadors 
does  not  belong  to  ordinary  ministers,  and  may  attribute  the  invi- 
tations used  in  the  present  day  to  "  priestly  pride,  and  strutting 
self-importance  ;"  but  this  will  only  prove  that  he  has  reasoned 
himself  into  a  situation  from  which  he  has  no  other  way  of  extri- 
cating himself  than  by  having  recourse  to  abuse  instead  of  argu- 
ment. What  does  it  avail  him,  whether  ordinary  ministers  be  am- 
bassadors for  Christ,  or  not  ?  If  faith  be  a  mere  passive  reception 
of  the  truth,  it  were  as  improper  for  the  apostles  to  beseech  sin- 
ners to  be  reconciled  to  God,  as  for  ordinary  ministers  to  do  so. 
Extraordinary  powers  could  not  render  that  consistent  which  is  in 
itself  absurd. 

But  I  need  say  the  less  on  this  head,'as  Mr.  MLcan.  in  the  First 
Part  of  his  Thoughts  on  the  Calls  and  Invitations  of  the  Gospel, 
has  not  only  alleged  the  foregoing  passages,  with  others,  but  shown 


382  CONSEQUENCES  OF  [Lktter  111. 

their  connexion  nnd  pertinency  to  the  point  at  issue.  Suffice  i) 
for  me  to  say,  that  a  system  which  requires  the  disuse  of  the  most 
distinguished  means  pertaining  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  must 
be  fundamentally  erroneous,  and  of  a  tendency  to  render  the  good 
news  of  salvation  of  none  effect.* 

"  To  urge  unbelievers,"  says  Mr.  Sandeman,  "  to  any  shadow 
of  obedience  to  the  gospel,  as  preparative  to  justification  by  faith, 
can  have  no  other  effect  than  to  lead  them  to  establish  their  own 
righteousness,  and  to  stand  in  awe  of  the  preacher."!  Obedience 
Co  the  gospel,  in  Mr.  Sandeman's  view,  is  the  effect  of  faith  ;  the 
scriptures,  however,  as  we  have  seen,  make  faith  itself  to  be  obe- 
dience, and  unbelief  to  be  disobedience.  If,  by  "preparative," 
he  mean  any  thing  which  contributes  to  the  ground  or  reason  of 
justification,  what  he  says  of  its  self-righteous  teiidciiry  is  true  ; 
and  the  same  would  be  true  of  his  "  notion,"  or  "  bare  belief:" 
but  to  represent  obedience  to  the  gospel,  as  necessary  in  the  estab- 
lished order  of  things  to  justification,  is  to  represent  it  according  to 
the  whole  current  of  scripture,  as  is  manifest  from  the  foregoing 
passages  ;  and  this  can  have  no  self-righteous  tendency. 

He  that  belie  veth  worketh  not  in  respect  of  justification.  He 
does  not  deserve  what  he  obtains,  but  receives  it  as  a  free  gift  ; 
and  it  is  of  the  nature  of  fiith  so  to  receive  it.  We  cati  distinguish 
between  a  man  who  lives  by  his  labours,  and  one  that  lives  by 
alms;  and   without  denying  that  the  latter  is  active  in  receiving 

*  It  becomes  me  here  to  acknowledge,  that,  ia  the  Appendix  to  the  last 
edition  oi  the  Gospel  Worthy  of  all  Acceptation,  I  was  guilty  of  an  oversight,  in 
attributing  many  of  the  foregoing  sentiments  to  Mr.  M'Lean,  which  did  not 
belong  to  him.  This  misstatement  was  owing  to  my  having,  at  the  time,  en- 
lirely  forgot  his  piece  on  the  Calls  of  the  Gospel,  and  my  considering  an  anon- 
/ymous  performance,  entitled  Simple  Truth,  written  by  a  Mr.  Bernard,  as  his. 
It  is  true  I  had  the  means  of  knowing  better,  and  should  have  been  more  at- 
lenlive  to  them:  in  this,  however,  lay  the  whole  of  my  fault.  It  never  was 
my  design,  for  a  moment,  to  misrepresent  Mr.  M.  or  any  other  man;  nor  did 
I  ever  feel  the  least  reluctance  to  make  the  most  explicit  acknowledgment. 

I  may  add,  though  !  am  sorry  that  I  mistook  him,  yet  1  am  glad  I  was  mis- 
taken. The  difference  between  us  is  so  much  the  less,  which,  to  any  cue 
■who  wishes  to  unite  with  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  ae 
far  as  possible,  must  afford  a  degree  of  satisfaction. 

T  Epistolary  Correspondence,  p.  29. 


Letter  111.]  MR.  S's.  NOTION  OF  KAITtl,  383 

them,  can  clearly  discern  that  liis  mode  of  living  is  directly  op- 
posed to  that  of  the  other.  He  that  should  contend  that  living  by 
nhns  actively  received  was  the  same  thing  as  living  by  work«. 
rt'ould  not  be  reckoned  a  reasoner,  but  a  driveller. 

To  set  ourselves  against  the  practice  of  the  prophets  ami  apos 
ties,  in  order  to  supjtort  the  freeness  of  justification,  is  supporting 
the  ark  with  unhallowed  hands  ;  or,  as  Mr.  M'Lean  expresses  it, 
replying  against  God.  "  Cannot  the  wicked,"  continues  he,  '*  be 
exhorted  to  believe,  repent,  and  seek  the  Lord,  and  be  encoura- 
ged to  this  by  a  promise  of  success,  (Isa.  Iv.  G,  7.)  without — mak- 
ing the  success  to  depend  on  human  merit  ?  Are  such  exhorta- 
tions and  promises  always  to  be  suspected  of  having  a  dangerous 
and  self-righteous  tendency  ?  Instead  of  taking  them  in  their  plain 
and  simple  sense,  must  our  main  care  always  be  to  guard  against 
some  supposed  self-righteous  use  of  them,  till  we  have  explained 
away  their  whole  force  and  spirit,  and  so  distinguished  and  refined 
upon  tbem  as  to  make  men  more  afraid  to  comply  with  them  than 
to  reject  them,  lest  they  should  be  guilty  of  some  exertion  of  mind 
or  body,  some  good  disposition  or  motion  towards  Christ,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  the  highest  wickedness,  and  a  despising  of  the  work 
of  Christ?"* 

I  can  assure  you,  that,  while  I  feel  sorry  to  have  mistaken  Mr. 
•M'Lean  on  this  subject,  1  am  not  a  little  happy  in  being  able 
to  make  such  important  extracts  as  the  above  from  his  writings. 
Vet  when  I  think  of  some  of  the  principles  which  he  still  avows,  I 
t'ecl  concerned  at  what  appears  to  me  his  inconsistency  :  and  not 
merely  his,  but  that  of  many  others  whom  I  sincerely  esteem. 

If,  after  what  has  passed,  I  could  hope  for  a  candid  attention,  I 
would  inlreat  Mr.  M'Lean,  and  others  like-minded  with  him,  ta 
consider  whether  that  practical  neglect  of  calls  and  invitations  to 
the  unconverted  which  is  said  to  prevail  wherever  these  sentiments 
are  imbibed,  and  which  he  almost  acknowledges  to  have  attended 
his  own  ministry,  has  not  arisen  from  this  cause. t     So  long  as  In- 

♦Thoughts  on  Calls,  Sic.  p.  36. 

t  His  words  arc  *'  However  negligent  I  may  be  in  urging  jinucrj  to  rtpen; 
ance,  it  has  always  been  my  firm  belief  that  not  only  the  uii'  onveited,  bu* 
even  the  converted  Ihemselvea,  need  not  often  to  be  rallod  le  repentatiop,  and 
that  in  order  to  forjivenes?."     Reply,  p.  "fi. 


381  CONSEQUENCES  OF  &t  [Letter  III, 

considers  faith  as  something  in  which  the  will  has  no  concern,  in- 
stead of  my  being  surprised  at  his  feehng  a  difficulty  in  carrying 
the  principles  pleaded  for  in  his  Thoughts  on  the  Calls  of  the  Gos- 
pel into  execution,  I  should  be  much  more  surprised  at  the  con- 
trary. If  he  be  able  to  exhort  sinners  to  repent  and  believe  the 
gospel,  it  is  more  than  1  should  be  with  his  professed  principles. 
So  far  as  I  know  myself,  I  could  not  possibly  call  or  invite  any  man 
to  that  in  which  his  will  had  no  concern,  without  feeling  at  the 
same  time  that  I  insulted  him. 

It  may  seem  a  little  remarkable,  that  this  system,  and  that  of  the 
high,  or  Hyper-calvinists  in  England,  which  in  almost  all  other 
things  are  opposite,  should  on  this  point  be  agreed.  The  one  con- 
fines believing  to  the  understanding,  the  other  represents  sinners, 
awakened  sinners  at  least,  as  being  willing  to  believe,  but  unable 
to  do  so,  any  more  than  to  take  wings  and  fly  to  heaven.  Hence 
neither  of  them  hold  it  consistent  to  call  on  sinners  to  believe  in 
Christ ;  nor  is  it  consistent  with  their  principles ;  but  how  it  is 
that  they  do  not  perceive,  by  the  uniform  practice  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  that  these  principles  are  antiscriptural,  I  cannot  oth- 
erwise account  for,  than  by  ascribing  it  to  the  perverting  influence 
of  hypothesis. 


LETTER  IV. 


ON    THE    FAITH    OF    DtVII-S    AND    NOMINAI     CHRISTIAN! 


\Ii/  Dear  Fricmi, 

You  are  aware  that  tho  apostle  James  speaks  of  some  whose 
faith  was  dead,  being  alone  ;  and  that,  in  auswer  to  their  boastings, . 
he  reminded  them  that  the  devils  also  believed  and  trembled. 
From  hence  it  has  been  generally  thought  there  must  be  an  essen- 
tial difference  between  the  nature  of  the  faith  of  nominal  Chris- 
tians and  devils  on  the  one  hand,  and  that  of  true  Christians  on  the 
other.  But  this  would  overturn  a  leading  principle  of  the  Sandema- 
nian  system.  Its  advocates,  therefore,  have  generally  contended, 
that  "whosoever  among  men  believes  what  devils  do  about  the 
Son  of  God,  are  born  of  God,  and  shall  be  saved  ;"*  and  that  the 
design  of  the  Apostle  was  not  to  compare,  but  rather  to  contrast  it 
with  that  of  the  nominal  Christian  ;  the  latter  as  having  no  effect 
on  the  mind,  the  former  as  causing  its  subjects  to  tremble.  It  has 
also  been  commonly  maintained,  on  that  side  of  the  question,  that 
the  faith  of  which  the  apostle  James  speaks,  instead  of  being  of  a 
different  nature  from  that  of  true  Christians,  was  in  reality  nothing 
but  profession,  or  "  saying  1  have  faith."  "  The  design  of  the 
Apostle,''  it  has  been  said,  "  is  to  represent,  that  faith,  whether 
it  be  on  earth  or  in  hell,  if  it  really  existed,  and  was  not  merclj 
pretended,  or  professed,  was  always  productive  of  corrcpondinj:; 
works.'" 

'  EcklDgf's  Essays,  p.  107. 
Vol,  III.  40 


386  t»^  THE  FAITH  [Letter  IV. 

As  the  whole  argument  seems  to  rest  upon  the  question,  wheth- 
er the  faith  of  nominal  Christians  be  here  compared  to  that  of 
devils  or  contrasted  with  it,  and  as  the  solution  of  this  question  in- 
volves a  fundamental  principle  of  the  system,  it  is  worthy  of  a 
particular  examination. 

The  words  of  the  apostle  are  as  follow  :  What  doth  it  profit^ 
my  brethren,  though  a  man  say  he  hath  faith,  and  have  not  works  ? 
Can  faith  save  him  1  If  a  brother  or  sister  be  naked,  and  destitute 
of  daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them,  Depart  in  peace,  be 
ye  warmed  and  filled ;  notwithstanding  ye  give  them  not  those 
things  which  are  needful  to  the  body  ;  what  doth  it  profit  ?  Even 
so  faith,  if  it  hath  not  works,  is  dead,  being  alone. — Yea,  a  man 
may  say,  thou  hast  faith,  and  I  have  works  :  show  me  thy  faith  with- 
out thy  works,  and  I  will  show  thee  my  faith  by  my  works.  Thou 
believest  that  there  is  one  God,  thou  doest  well:  the  devils  also 
believe,  and  tremble.  But  wilt  thou  know,  O  vain  man,  that  faith 
without  works  is  dead.  Chap.  ii.  14 — 20. 

If  the  design  be  to  contrast  the  faith  of  devils  with  that  of  nom- 
inal Christians,  the  apostle  must  undoubtedly  mean  to  render  the 
latter  a  nonentity,  or  a  mere  pretence,  and  to  hold  up  the  former 
as  a  reality  ;  and  what  is  more,  to  represent  the  "  trembling"  of 
the  fallen  spirits  as  a  species  of  good  fruit,  good  at  least  in  its  na- 
ture, and  wanting  nothing  to  render  it  saving  but  the  circumstan- 
tial interference  of  a  more  favourable  situation. 

To  this  view  of  the  passage  I  have  several  objections. — 

First :  The  Apostle  does  not  treat  the  faith  of  nominal  Chris- 
tians as  a  nonentity,  but  as  something  which  existed,  though  void 
of  life,  as  "  a  dead  body  without  the  spirit."  On  the  principle 
here  opposed  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  dead  faith  ;  that  which 
is  so  called  being  mere  pretence.  The  party  is,  indeed  repre- 
sented assaying  he  has  faith,  but  the  same  may  be  alleged  of  the 
true  Christian  with  respect  to  works,  ver.  18.  If,  from  hence, 
the  faith  of  the  one  be  considered  as  a  nonentity,  the  works  of  tht 
other  must  be  the  same. 

Secondly  :  The  place  in  which  the  faith  of  devils  is  introdu- 
ced proves  that  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  comparison,  and  not  of 
contrast.     If  it  had  been  lor  the  latter,  it  should  have  been  intro 


LkttkrIV.J  of  DKMLb.  387 

diiced  in  verse  18,  and  classed  with  the  operative  behef  of  true 
Chrisitians,  rather  than  in  verse  19,  where  it  is  classed  with  that 
of  nominal  Christians.  The  argument  then  would  have  been 
this  :  '  Show  mc  thy  taith  without  thy  works,  and  I  will  show  thee 
my  faith  by  my  works  :  the  devils  believe  and  tremble  ;  but  thou 
believest  and  tremblest  not  :  therefore  thy  faith  is  a  mere  pre- 
tence.' 

Thirdly:  The  copulative  particle  "also,"  instead  of  the  dis- 
junctive, determines  it  to  be  a  comparison,  and  not  a  contrast.  \f 
it  were  the  latter,  the  argument  requires  it  to  have  been  thus  ex- 
pressed : — '  Thou  believest  there  is  one  God  ;  thou  doest  well  ; 
but  the  devils  believe  and  tremble.'  If  xou  be  rendered  and,  or 
even,  instead  of  also,  as  it  often  is,  yet  the  meaning  is  the  same. 
'  Thou  believest  there  is  one  God  :  thou  doest  well  ;  and  the  de- 
vils believe  and  tremble  :  or,  even  the  devils  believe  and  tremble.' 
None  of  these  forms  of  expressions  convey  the  idea  of  contrast, 
but  of  likenees. 

Judge  my  friend,  and  let  the  reader  judge,  whether  the  mcaniag 
of  the  Apostle  be  not  expressed  in  the  following  paraphrase  : 
'  show  mc,  if  thou  canst,  a  faith  which  is  of  any  value  without 
works,  and  I  will  show  thee  a  faith  which  is  of  value  by  its  fruits. 
Thou  believest  that  there  is  one  God  ;  a  great  matter  truly  !  and 
may  not  the  same  be  said  of  the  worst  of  beings  ?  yea,  and  more  : 
for  they,  having  felt  the  power  of  God's  anger,  not  only  believe 
but  tremble  ;  whereas  thy  faith  suffers  thee  to  live  at  ease.  Bui 
as  theirs,  with  all  their  trembling,  i?  of  no  account,  neither  is  thine  ; 
for  faith  without  holy  fruits  is  dead. 

If  the  language  of  the  Apostle  may  be  understood  as  a  contrast 
it  may  be  used  to  express  that  which  subsists  between  other  things 
that  differ,  as  well  as  these.  For  example  :  Between  the  faith  of 
Christians  and  that  of  Jevv^.  But  tlie  absurdity  of  this  would 
strike  any  reader  of  common  discernment.  '  Thou  believest 
that  there  is  one  God  ;  thou  doest  well  :  Christians  also  believe 
and  obey  !  To  make  sense  of  it,  it  should  be,  But  Christians  be- 
lieve and  obey.  On  the  other  hand,  make  an  experiment  in  an 
instance  of  likeness,  and  the  language  is  plain  and  easy.  One 
boasts  that  he  is  not  a  heathen,  nor  a  Jew,  nor  a  Deist,  but  a  Chris- 
tian ;  while   yet  he  is  under  the  dominion  of  avarice.     A  man 


388  Oi\'  THE  tAlTli  [LbtterIV. 

might  say  to  lum,  "  Thou  believest  there  is  one  iio<\,  thou  doest 
well  :  Felix  the  heathen  was  so  far  convinced  of  this,  and,  what  is 
more,  trembled  :  yet  Felix's  convictions  were  ol'  no  value,  and 
brought  forth  no  good  fruit  ;  neither  are  thine,  fur  faith  without 
works  is  dead.' 

There  is  no  reason  to  conclude  that  the  faith  and  trembling  of 
devils  differ  in  any  thing,  except  in  degree,  from  the  convictions 
and  trembling  of  FeHx  :  if,  therefore,  the  former  would  in  our 
circumstances  have  terminated  in  salvation,  why  did  not  the  latter, 
whose  situation  was  sufficiently  favourable,  so  to  terminate  ?  The 
convictions  of  James's  nominal  Christian  might  not  be  so  strong  as 
those  of  Felix,  and  his  might  not  be  so  strong  as  those  of  the  fallen 
angels  ;  but  in  their  nature  they  were  one  and  the  same.  The 
first  was  convinced  that  there  was  one  God  ;  but  it  was  mere 
light,  without  love.  If,  like  what  is  said  of  the  stony-ground 
hearers,  a  portion  of  joy  at  first  attended  it,  yet  the  gospel  having 
no  root  in  his  mind,  and  being  in  circumstances  wherein  he  saw  no 
remarkable  displays  of  the  divine  majesty,  it  made  no  durable  im- 
pression upon  him.  The  second  might  also  be  convinced  that 
there  was  a  God,  and  neither  were  his  convictions  accompanied 
by  love,  but  "  righteousness,  temperance,  and  a  judgment  to 
come,"  being  set  before  him,  he  "  trembled."  The  last  are 
convinced  of  the  same  truth,  and  neither  are  their  convictions  ac- 
companied by  love  ;  but,  being  placed  in  circumstances  wherein 
the  awful  majesty  of  God  is  continually  before  their  eyes,  they 
already  know  in  part,  by  sad  experience,  the  truth  of  his  threat- 
nings,  and  tremble  in  expectation  of  greater  torments. 

There  is  just  as  much  holiness  in  each  of  these  cases  as  in  the 
trembling  of  an  impenitent  malefactor  under  the  gallows.  To 
reckon  it,  in  any  of  them,  therefore,  among  "the  corresponding 
fruits  which  always  attend  faith  if  it  really  exists,"  is  to  reckon 
as  fruit,  that  which  the  scriptures  reject  as  unworthy  of  the  name. 
Of  the  four  sorts  of  hearers,  only  one  brought  forth  fruit. 

It  is  remarkable  that  Mr.  M'Lean,  after  what  he  has  written, 
when  discoursing  on  the  parable  of  the  sower,  particularly  on 
those  who  are  said  to  have  "believed  for  a  while,"  should  intro- 
duce the  following  sentiment  in  the  form  of  an  objection.     "  Such 


L^'^'er  !V.]  of  DKVIL^.  -^gp 

ns  fall  awav  have  never  been  enlightcnfd  in  the  knowledf^c  of  the 
truth,  nor  reiilly  believe  the  gospel  ;  but  had  only  professed  to 
believe."  His  answer  to  this  objection  is  still  more  remarkable. 
-'The  srriplwre,"  he  says,  "supposes  them  to  have  been  once 
enlightened — to  have  received  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and 
of  the  way  of  risjhteousness — to  liavc  believed  for  a  while — and 
to  have  escaped  the  pollution*;  of  the  world  through  the  knowl- 
edge of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ:  see  Heb.  vi.  4.  x.  26. 
Luke  viii.  13.  2  Peter  ii.  20.  And  their  falling  away  after 
such  attainments  is  that  which  constitutes  the  very  sin  of  aposlacy, 
ami  by  which  the  guilt  of  it  is  aggravated.  F'or  it  had  been  better 
for  them  not  to  have  known  the  way  of  righteousness,  than  after 
they  have  known  it  to  turn  from  the  holy  commandment  delivered 
unto  them."     Sermons,  p.  66. 

All  this  I  account  very  good,  though  I  should  not  have  expected 
it  from  Mr.  M,  But  his  refusing,  after  this,  to  admit  an  essential 
ilifTerencc  between  the  faith  of  these  apostates  and  that  of  true 
believers,  is  most  remarkable  of  all.  If  the  difference  lie  not  in 
the  nature  of  their  faith,  nor  in  the  nature  of  the  things  believed, 
against  which  he  also  reasons,  where  does  it  lie?  They  must, 
one  would  think,  have  been  true  believers  so  far  as  they  went,  and 
so  long  as  they  continued  to  believe  ;  and  their  falling  away  must 
atTord  an  example  of  the  apostary  of  true  believers.  But  if  a  per- 
son may  be  a  true  believer  at  one  time,  and  an  apostate  at  another, 
he  can  h  ive  no  scriptural  ground  at  any  period  of  his  life,  from 
any  consciousness  of  believing  the  gospel,  to  conclude  on  his  own 
particular  salvation.  Yet  tliis  is  what  Mr.  M.  has  pleaded  for  in 
his  treatise  on  the  Commission.  Moreover,  if  there  be  not  an 
cs«en</a/ difference  between  the  nature  of  '.he  faith  of  apostates, 
and  that  of  true  believers,  why  does  he  himself,  when  describing 
them,  write  as  follows  ?  "  Whatever  appearances  of  faith  there 
may  be  in  false  professors,  they  have  not  the  same  perception  of 
the  truth,  nor  th  it  persuasion  of  it  upon  its  itf>V^^  evidence, 
which  real  believers  have."*  I  do  not  say  of  IVfr.  M.  as  he  does 
of  me,  that  "  he  can  take  either  side  of  the  question  as  ho  find<^ 

■  Works,  Vol.  n.  p.  96 


390  ON  THE  FAITH  [Le.  ^^yV- 

occasion  :"  but  this  I  say,  he  appears  to  me  to  feel  the  force  of 
some  truths  which  do  not  well  comport  with  some  of  his  formei- 
reasonings  ;  and  not  being  able,  it  should  seem,  to  reconcile  them, 
he  leaves  them  unreconciled. 

Surely  it  were  more  agreeable  to  the  truth,  and  to  the  passages 
on  which  he  discourses,  to  admit  of  an  essentia?  difference  between 
the  faith  of  nominal  and  real  Christians.  In  discoursing  on  the 
"good  ground"  in  the  parable,  he  very  properly  represents  true 
believers,  and  them  only,  as  being  "taught  by  the  special  illumin- 
ating influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit;"  but  surely  that  which  is  the 
fruit  of  this  special  influence  possesses  a  special  nature.  Why  else 
do  we  read  that  that  which  is  horn  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit ;  and  why 
does  it  denominate  a  man  spiritual  ?*  We  may  not,  as  he  says, 
be  "able  to  distinguish,  in  the  first  impressions  of  the  gospel,  the 
faith  of  a  stony-ground  hearer  from  that  of  a  true  believer  ;"  but 
it  does  not  follow  that  there  is  not  an  essential  difference  notwith- 
standing. 

The  unrenewed  character,  with  all  his  knowledge,  knoweth 
nothing  as  he  ought  to  know.  He  perceives  not  the  intrinsic  evil 
of  sin,  and,  consequently,  discerns  not  the  intrinsic  excellence  of 
the  knowledge  of  Christ.  That  in  the  gospel  which  pleases  him 
is,  its  giving  relief  to  his  troubled  conscience.  Hence  "  all  his 
godliness,"  as  Mr.  vSandeman  says,  "consists  in  love  to  that  which 
first  relieved  him.'" 

We  have  been  told  more  than  once,  that  "  there  need  be  no 
question  about  how  we  believe,  but  what  we  believe."  Mr, 
M'Lean  will  answer  this,  that  "  the  matter,  or  object  of  belief, 
even  in  apostates,  is  said  to  be  the  word  of  the  kingdom — the 
truth — the  way  of  righteousness — the  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  what  other  object  of  faith  have  true  believers  ?" 
Sermons,  pp.  66,  67. 

I  have  no  objection  to  allowing,  however,  that  if  we  believe  the 
very  truth  as  it^  in  Jesus,  there  can  be  nothing  wanting  in  the 
wiawier  of  believing  it.  But  though  this  be  true,  and  though  an 
inquirer  after  the  way  of  salvation  ought  to  be  directed  to  the 

*  John  iii.  6.    1  Cor.  ii.  15. 


Lktter  IV.]  OK  DLV!L^.  39I 

saving  doctniic  of  the  cross,  rather  tlinn  to  the  workings  of  his  own 
mind  concerning  it,  yet  there  is  in  the  workings  of  a  believer's 
mind  towards  it  something  rs<entially  dilTerent  from  those  of  the 
merely  nominal  Christian  j  and  which  when  the  mquiry  comes  to 
be,  '  Am  I  a  behever  ?'  ought  to  be  pointed  out.  He  not  only 
believes  truth  which  the  other  does  not,  but  believes  the  same 
truths  in  a  ditlerent  u)anner.  in  other  words,  he  believes  them 
on  different  grounds,  and  with  diflferent  affections.  That  which 
he  knoweth  is,  in  measure,  "  as  he  ought  to  know  it."  He  dis- 
cerns spiritual  things  in  a  spiritual  manner;  which  is  the  only 
manner  in  which  they  can  be  discerned  as  they  are. 

It  might  be  said,  there  need  be  no  question  about  fwu'  we  re- 
pent, or  hope,  or  love,  or  pray  ;  but  ~vhut  we  repent  of,  what  we 
hope  for,  what  we  love,  and  what  we  pray  for.  And  true  it  is, 
that  if  we  repent  of  sin  as  sin,  hope  for  the  things  which  the  gos- 
pel promises,  love  the  true  character  of  God  and  all  that  bears  bis 
image,  and  pray  for  those  things  which  are  according  to  his  will, 
there  will  be  nothing  wanting  as  to  the  manner :  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  there  is  no  difference  as  to  the  manner  of  these  exer- 
cises in  true  Christians  and  in  merely  mominal  ones.  Our  being 
right  as  to  the  objects  may  be  a  proof  of  our  being  right  as  to  the 
manner,  as  the  needle's  pointing  to  the  magnet  proves  the  corres- 
pondence of  the  nature  of  the  one  with  that  of  the  other:  but  as 
in  this  case  we  should  not  say,  it  is  of  no  account  whether  the 
needle  be  made  of  steel  or  of  some  other  substance,  so  that  it 
points  to  the  magnet ;  neither  in  the  other  should  we  consider  the 
natare  of  spiritual  exercises  as  a  matter  of  no  account,  but  merely 
the  objects  on  which  they  terminate. 

When  we  read  concerning  the  duty  of  prayer,  that  the  Lord  ii 
nigh  unto  all  that  call  upon  him  in  truth  ;  and  that  wc  know  not 
vhat  to  pray  for  as  we  ought,  we  infer  that  there  is  something  in 
the  nature  of  a  good  man's  prayers  which  distinguishes  them  from 
others.  But  there  is  just  the  same  reason  for  inferring  that  there 
is  something  in  the  nature  of  a  good  man's  knowledge,  which  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  that  of  others  :  for  as  he  only  that  is  assisted 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  prays  as  he  ought,  so  he  only  that  is  taught  of 
God  knoweth  any  ibing  a$  he  ought  to  knoto. 


J92  ^^   i'^^I^  FAITH  [Letter  IV. 

The  holy  nature  of  living  faith  may  be  difficult,  and  even  im- 
possible to  be  ascertained  but  by  its  effects  ;  as  it  is  difficult  if  not 
impossible,  to  distinguish  some  seeds  from  others,  till  they  have 
each  brought  forth  their  respective  fruits  ;  but  a  diiTerence  there 
is,  notwithstanding.  If  there  need  be  no  inquiry  as  to  the  nature  of 
faith,  but  merely  concerning  its  objects,  how  was  it  that  the  Corin- 
thians who,  by  their  unworthy  spirit  and  conduct,  had  rendered  their 
being  Christ's  disciples  indeed  a  matter  of  doubt,  should  be  told  to 
examine  themselves  whether  they  were  in  the  faith,  and  should  be 
furnished  with  this  criterion,  that,  if  they  were  true  believers,  and 
not  reprobates,  or  such  as  would  be  disapproved  as  dross,  Jesus 
Christ  teas  in  them !  On  the  principle  here  opposed,  they  should 
have  examined,  not  themselves,  but  merely  their  creed,  or  what 
they  believed,  in  order  to  know  whether  they  were  in  the 
faith. 

If  the  faith  of  devils  would  have  issued  in  their  saivalion,  pro- 
vided, like  us,  they  have  been  placed  in  circumstances  of  hope,  it 
will  follow  that  faith  is  not  produced  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  merely  by  Divine  Providence.  No  one,  I  presume, 
will  ascribe  the  belief  of  devils  to  the  Holy  Spirit :  whatever  they 
believe  must  be  owing  to  the  situation  in  which  they  are.  placed, 
and  the  circumstances  attending  them.  But  if  faith  may  be  the 
mere  effect  of  situation  and  circumstances  in  one  case,  why  not  in 
another  ?  Sandemanians  have  often  been  charged  with  setting 
aside  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  and  have  often  denied  the  charge  : 
but,  whatever  may  be  said  of  their  other  principles,  their  notion  of 
the  faith  of  devils  must  sap  the  foundation  of  that  important  doc- 
trine. If  this  notion  be  true,  all  that  is  necessary  is,  that  the  par- 
ty be  placed  under  the  influence  of  truth  clearly  stated  and  suffi- 
ciently impressive,  and  within  the  limits  of  the  promise  of  salva- 
tion. All  the  change,  therefore,  which  is  necessary  to  eternal  life 
may  be  wrought  by  only  a  proper  adjustment  of  moral  causes.  On- 
ly place  mankind  in  circumstances  in  which  their  minds  shall  be 
impressed  with  terror  equal  to  that  of  the  fallen  angels,  and  let  the 
promise  of  salvation  to  believers  be  continued  as  it  is,  and  all 
would  be  saved.  And  with  respect  to  the  fallen  angels  themselves, 
only  extend  to  them  the  promise  to  believers,  and  they  are  at 


Lr.rrERlV.]  OF  DKVIL"-  39-^ 

Qnce  ill  ;i  state  of  salvation.  Such  on  tlii>  hypothesis,  would  have 
been  the  happy  comhiion  ot  both  men  and  devils  :  hut  the  hope  of 
merry  ;uid  the  sense  of  ivrath  arc  both  rendered  abortive  for  want 
of  beini;  united.  Providence  places  sinners  on  earth  under  the 
hope  of  salvation  ;  but  then  they  are  not  in  circumstance.s  hnffi- 
ciently  impressive,  and  so  it  comes  to  nothing.  In  hell  the  cir 
cumstances  are  suflkiently  impressive;  and  they  actually  believe  : 
but  then  there  is  no  hope,  and  so  again  it  comes  to  nothing  I 

Sarely  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  might  suffice  to 
leach  us  the  insufficiency  of  all  means  to  bring  sinners  to  God. 
when  we  are  assured  that  if  they  believed  not  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  neither  would  (hey  be  persuaded  though  one  should 
rise  from  the  dead.  I  am  far  from  accusing  all  who  have  pleaded 
for  the  faith  of  devils  being  such  as  would  be  saving  in  our  cir- 
cumstances, as  designing  to  undermine  the  work  of  the  spirit;  bui 
that  such  is  its  tendency  is,  I  presume  .^uificiently  manifest. 

Nor  is  this  all :  not  only  is  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  set  aside, 
in  favour  of  the  mere  influence  of  moral  suasion,  but  the  fruits  of 
the  Spirit  arc  made  to  consist  of  that  which  is  the  ordinary  effect 
of  such  influence.  "  When  any  person  on  earth,"  it  has  been 
:?aid,  "believes  Jesus  (who  is  now  invisible)  with  equal  assurance 
as  the  devils,  he  rejoices  in  hope,  is  animated  by  love  to  him,  and 
feels  disposed  to  obey  his  will,  anrl  to  resist  his  own  evil  in'Hina 
tions." 

There  arCj  I  grant,  sensations  m  the  human  mind  which  arise 
merely  from  the  influences  of  hope  and  fear,  and  which  bear  a 
near  resemblance  to  the  fruits  of  (he  Spirit ;  but  they  are  not  the 
same.  The  judgments  of  God  inflicted  upon  the  carnal  Israelite* 
in  the  wilderness,  caused  the  survivors  to  tremble,  and  wrought 
in  them  a  great  care  to  be  more  religious,  and  to  resist  their  evil 
inclinations.  When  he  slew  them,  then  they  iovght  him;  and  they 
returned  ca.ily  after  God ;  they  rcmitnhered  that  God  xxas  their 
Rock,  and  the  high  God  their  Redeemer.  Such  was  the  effect  of 
moral  influence  or  of  the  word  and  works  of  God  :  but  what  fol- 
lows ?  KeverthelesH  they  did  flatter  him  icith  their  mouth,  they  lied 
unto  him  ziith  their  tongues:  for  their  hkart  was  not  riuhi 
WITH   HIM,  neither  were  they  steadfast  iit  his  covenant.     Thus,  oa 

Vor.   HI.  50 


394 


ON  THE  FAITH  [Letter  IV. 


the  approach  of  death,  we  still  see  men  greatly  affected.  Light  as 
they  may  have  made  of  religion  before,  they  now  believe  enough  to 
make  them  tremble.  At  such  times,  it  is  common  for  them  to 
think  how  good  they  would  be,  and  what  a  diflerent  life  they  would 
lead,  if  it  would  please  God  to  restore  them.  And  should  a  fa- 
vourable turn  be  pven  to  their  affliction,  they  are  affected  in 
another  way  ;  they  weep,  and  thank  God  for  their  hopes  of  recov- 
ery, not  doubting  but  they  shall  become  other  men.  But  1  need 
not  teil  you,  or  the  reader,  that  all  this  may  consist  with  a  heart  at 
enmity  with  the  true  character  of  God,  and  that  it  frequently 
proves  so,  by  their  returning,  as  soon  as  the  impression  subsides, 
to  their  old  courses.  The  whole  of  this  process  may  be  no  more 
than  an  operation  of  self-love,  or,  as  Mr.  Sandeman  calls  it,  "a 
love  to  that  which  relieves  them,"  which  is  something  at  a  great 
remove  from  the  love  of  God,  and  therefore  is  not  "godliness." 
Godliness  has  respect  to  God,  and  not  merely  to  our  own  relief. 
The  distress  of  an  ungodly  mind,  consisting  only  in  fearful  appre- 
hension of  consequences,  may  be  relieved  by  any  thing  that  fur- 
nishes him  with  a  persuasion  of  the  removal  of  those  consequen- 
ces. It  may  be  from  an  idea  that  he  has  performed  the  condi- 
tions of  salvation  ;  or  from  an  impulse  that  his  sins  are  forgiven  ; 
or  from  his  imagining  that  he  "  sees  God  just  in  juslifiying  him, 
ungodly  as  he  stands."  Any  of  these  considerations  will  give 
relief ;  and  no  man  will  be  so  wanting  to  himself,  as  not  to  "  love 
that  which  rfclieves  him."  There  may  be  some  difference  in 
these  causes  of  relief :  the  first  may  be  derived  from  something  in 
ourselves ;  and  the  last  may  seem  to  arise  from  what  Christ  has 
done  and  suffered  :  but  if  the  undertaking  of  Christ  be  merely 
viewed  as  a  relief  to  a  sinner,  we  overlook  its  chief  glory  ;  and  the 
religion  that  arises  from  such  views  is  as  false  as  the  views  them- 
3elves  are  partial. 

The  first  idea  in  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  is.  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest.  Its  proclaiming  peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  to  men  is 
consequent  on  this.  But  that  which  occupies  the  first  place  in 
the  doctrine  itself,  must  occupy  the  first  place  in  the  belief  of  it. 
The  faith  of  the  gospel  corresponds  with  the  gospel  :  So  we 
preached  and  so  ye  believed.     God  will  assert  his  own  glory,  and 


Letter  IV. J  OF  DKVir.S,  3Q5 

we  must  subscribe  to  it,  before  we  are  allowed  to  ask  or  hope  for 
the  forgiveness  of  our  sins  ,  as  is  clearly  (aught  us  in  what  is  call- 
ed the  Lord's  prayer,  ile,  therefore,  that  views  the  cross  oi 
Christ  merely  as  an  expedient  to  relieve  the  guilty,  or  oidy  sub- 
scribes to  the  justice  of  God  in  his  condemnation,  when  conceiv- 
ing himself  delivered  from  it,  has  yet  to  learn  the  first  principles 
of  Christianity.  His  rejoicing  in  the  justice  of  Goi\,  as  satisfied  bt/ 
the  death  of  Christ,  while  he  hales  it  in  itself  considered,  is  no 
more  than  rejoicing  in  a  dreaded  tyrant  being  appeased,  or  some- 
how diverted  from  coming  to  hurt  hitn.  And  shall  we  call  this  the 
love  of  God  ?  To  make  our  deliverance  from  divine  condemna- 
tion the  condition  of  our  subscribing  to  the  justice  of  it,  proves, 
beyond  all  contradiction,  that  we  care  oidy  for  ourselves,  and  that 
ihe  love  of  God  is  not  in  us.  And  herein,  if  I  may  adopt  ]\Ir. 
Sandeman's  term,  consists  the  very  "  poison"  of  his  system.  It  is 
one  of  the  many  devices  for  obtaining  relief  to  the  nund,  without 
justifying  God,  and  falling  at  the  feet  of  the  Saviour;  or,  which  is 
the  same  thing,  without  repentance  toward  God  and  faith  toward 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  doctrine  of  the  cross  presupposes  the  equity  and  goodness 
of  the  divine  law,  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  the  exposedness 
of  the  sinner  to  God's  righteous  curse,  and  his  utter  insufficiency 
to  deliver  his  soul.  To  believe  this  doctrine,  therefore,  must  needs 
be  to  subscribe  with  our  very  heart  to  these  principles,  as  they 
respect  ourselves  ;  and  so  to  receive  salvation  as  being  what  it  is, 
a  message  of  pure  grace,  through  a  mediator.  Such  a  conviction 
as  this  never  possessed  the  mind  of  a  fallen  angel,  nor  of  a  fallen 
man  untaught  by  the  special  grace  of  God. 

I  am  yours,  iic. 


jli:tter  v. 


OK  THE  CONNKMON   UKTWKEN  UEl'ENTANCE  TOWARD  <;0l),  AM)  FAIT.) 
rOWAUD    Ol'R    rORD    JFSUS    CHRIST, 


Ml/  dear  Friend. 

The  advocates  of  this  system  do  not  consider  the  order  in  which 
thc»;o  graces  are  ordinarily  introduced  in  the  New  Testament  as 
being  the  trne  order  of  nature,  and  ihorelore  generally  reverse  if, 
putting  faith  before  repentance,  and  invariably  placing  repentance 
among  the  effects  of  faith.  A  sinner,  therefore,  has  no  spiritual 
sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  till  he  has  believed  in  the  Saviour,  and 
stands  in  a  justified  state.  Then,  being  forgiven  all  trespasses, 
and  reconciled  to  God  through  the  death  of  his  Son,  he  is  melted 
into  repentance. 

The  question  is  not  whether  the  gospel  when  received  by  faith, 
operates  in  this  way  ;  for  of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Nothing 
produces  godly  sorrow  for  sin  like  a  believing  view  of  the  suffer- 
ing Saviour.  Nor  is  it  denied,  that  to  be  grieved  for  having  dis- 
honoured God  we  must  first  brdieve  that  he  is ;  and  before  we 
can  come  to  him  in  acceptable  worship,  that  through  a  mediator 
he  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him.  Without  a 
mediator,  repentance,  even  if  it  coulil  have  existed,  mu«t  have 
been  hopeless.  1  have  not  such  an  idea  of  the  the  sinner  being 
brought  to  repentance  antecedently  to  his  believing  in  Christ  for 
salvation,  as  Mr.  Smdeman  had  of  his  believing  antecedently  to  re- 
pentanre.   According  to  hioa.  he  believes  and  is  justified,  not  mere- 


;jy8  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  V. 

ly  considered  as  ungodly,  or  tdthout  any  consideration  of  godliness 
in  him,  but  actually  *'  ungodly  as  he  stands,"  and  then,  and  not 
till  then,  begins  to  love  God,  and  to  be  sorry  for  his  sin.  This  i^ 
manifestly  holding  up  the  idea  of  an  impenitent  believer,  though 
not  one  that  continues  such.  But  the  antecedency  which  I  as 
cribe  to  repentance  does  not  amount  to  this.  I  have  no  concep- 
tion of  a  sinner  being  so  brought  to  repentance  as  to  sustain  the 
character  of  a  penitent,  and  still  less  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of 
sin,  previously  to  his  falling  in  the  way  of  salvation.  I  believe  it 
is  not  possible  for  a  sinner  to  repent,  and  at  the  same  time  to  reject 
the  Saviour.  The  very  instant  that  he  perceives  the  evil  of  sin 
so  as  to  repent  of  it,  be  cannot  think  of  the  Saviour  without  be- 
lieving in  him.  I  have,  therefore,  no  notion  of  a  penitent  unbe- 
liever. All  that  I  contend  for  is,  that  in  the  order  of  cause  and  ef- 
fect, whatever  may  be  said  as  to  the  order  of  time,  repentance 
precedes  as  well  as  follows  the  fiiith  of  Christ ;  and  that  faith  in 
Christ  cannot  exist  without  repentance  for  sin.  A  sense  of  sin 
appears  to  me  essential  to  believing  in  the  Saviour  ;  so  much  so, 
that  without  it,  the  latter  would  not  only  be  a  mere  "  notion," 
but  an  essentially  defective  one. 

It  is  admitted,  on  both  sides,  that  there  is  a  priority  of  one  or 
ether  of  these  graces  in  the  order  of  nature,  so  as  that  one  is  in- 
fluenced by  the  other ;  and  if  no  other  priority  were  pleaded, 
neither  the  idea  of  a  penitent  unbeliever  on  the  one  hand,  nor  an 
impenitent  believer  on  the  other,  would  follow  :  for  it  might  still 
be  true,  as  Mr.  M'Lean  acknowledges,  that  "  none  believe  who  do 
not  repent,"  and  as  I  also  acknowledge,  that  none  repent  who, 
iccording  to  the  light  they  have,  do  not  believe.  But  if  we  main- 
tain, not  only  that  faith  is  prior  in  the  order  of  nature,  but  that, 
antecedently  to  any  true  sorrow  for  sin,  we  must  "  see  God  to  be 
just  in  justifying  us  ungodly  as  we  stand,"  this  is  clearly  maintain- 
ing the  notion  of  an  impenitent  believer. 

From  these  introductory  remarks,  it  will  appear  that  I  have  no 
objection  to  faith  being  considered  as  temporary  with  repentance 
in  the  order  of  time,  provided  the  latter  were  made  to  consist  in  an 
acquiescence  with  the  gospel  way  of  salvation,  so  far  as  it  is  un- 
derstood :  but  if  it  be  made  to  include  such  a  clear  view   of  the 


Letter  V.]  REPENTANCE  AM)  FAITH.  399 

gospel  as  necessarily  brings  peace  and  rest  to  the  soul,  I  believe 
that  repentance  for  sin  oftf-n  j)recedes  it,  even  in  tlie  ord'^r  ol 
time. 

Such  is  the  connexion  between  repentance  and  faith  in  the  scrip- 
tures, that  the  one  commonly  supposes  the  other.  Urpetitance, 
when  followed  by  the  remission  of  sins,  supposes  faith  in  the 
Saviour  ;  (Luke  xxiv.  47-)  «»nd  faith,  when  followed  with  justi- 
fication, equally  supposes  repentance  for  sin. 

Attempts  have  been  made  by  criticising  on  the  word  fAerovoia,  to 
explain  away,  as  it  should  seem,  the  proper  object  of  repentance, 
as  if  it  were  a  change  of  mind  with  regard  to  the  gospel.  ''  Re- 
pentance," says  Mr.  S.  "  is  the  change  of  a  man's  mind  to  love 
the  truth,  which  always  carries  in  it  a  sense  of  shame  and  regret  at 
his  former  opposition  to  it."*  But  this  is  confounding  repentance 
and  faith  objectively  considered.  The  objects  of  both  are  so 
marked  in  the  apostolic  ministry,  that  one  would  think  they  could 
not  be  honestly  mistaken.  Uepentance  is  toward  God  and  faith  is 
totcard  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  the  one  has  immediate  respect  to 
the  Lawgiver,  the  other  to  tlie  Saviour. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  order  in  which  the  New  Tes- 
tament cominoidy  places  repentance  and  faith  is  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  what  our  opponents  plead  for  ;  and  what  is  more,  that 
the  former  is  represented  as  influencing!  the  latter.  This  is  man- 
ifest in  the  following  passages  :  Repent  yc  and  believe  the  gospel. 
Testifying  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  toieard  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. — They  repented  not,  that  they  might  believe  him.— 
If  God  pcradccjiture  might  give  thim  repentance  to  the  acknowl- 
KDCixG  OF  Tilt:  TRi'TH.  Mr.  Sandcman,  J\lr.  ^PLean,  and  all  the 
writers  on  that  side  of  the  question,  very  rarely  make  use  01 
this  language  ;  and  when  they  have  occasion  to  write  upon  the 
subject,  ordinarily  reverse  it.  To  accord  with  their  i(lo;is  it 
should  have  been  said,  '  Believe  the  gospel  and  repent. — Tes- 
tifying faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesu«  Christ,  and  repentance  to- 
ward God. — They  believed  not,  that  they  might  repent. — If  God 
peradventure  may  give  them  faith  to  repent. ' 

*  Letters  oil  Tlipron  airl  Aspasio.  p.  40P. 


400  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  V. 

To  this  I  add,  it  is  impossible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  to  be- 
lieve the  gospel  but  as  being  made  sensible  to  that  which  renders 
it  necessary.  The  guilty  and  lost  state  of  sinners  goes  before 
the  revelation  of  the  grace  of  the  gospel  :  the  latter,  therefore, 
cannot  be  understood  or  believed,  but  as  we  are  convinced  of  the 
former.  There  is  no  grace  in  the  gospel,  but  upon  the  supposi- 
tion ol  the  holiness,  justice,  and  goodness  of  the  law.  If  God  be 
not  in  the  right,  and  we  in  the  wrong  ;  if  we  have  not  transgress- 
ed without  cause,  and  be  not  fairly  condemned,  grace  is  no  more 
grace,  but  a  just  exemption  from  undeserved  punishment.  And 
as  faith  must  needs  correspond  with  truth,  it  is  impossible  that 
we  should  believe  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace,  in  an  im- 
penitent state  of  mind,  or  without  feeling  that  we  have  forfeited 
all  claim  to  the  divine  favour.  We  cannot  see  things  but  as  they 
are  to  be  seen  :  to  suppose  that  we  first  believe  in  the  doctrine 
of  free  grace,  and  then,  as  the  effect  of  it,  perceive  the  evil  of 
sin,  and  our  just  exposedness  to  divine  wrath,  is  like  supposing  a 
man  first  to  appreciate  the  value  of  a  physician,  and  by  this 
means  to  learn  that  he  is  sick.  It  is  true  the  physician  may  visit 
the  neighborhood,  or  the  apartments  of  one  who  is  in  imminent 
danger  of  death,  while  he  thinks  iiimself  mending  every  day  : 
and  this  circumstance  may  be  held  up  by  his  friends  as  a  motive  to 
him  to  consider  of  his  condition,  and  to  put  himself  under  his 
care.  It  is  thus  that  the  coming  of  Christ  and  the  setting  up  of 
his  spiritual  kingdom  in  the  world  were  alleged  as  motives  to  re- 
pentance, both  to  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Repent  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand.  Repent  ye  therefore.  The  times  past  of  this 
ignorance  God  winked  at ;  but  now  commandeth  all  men  every  where 
to  repent.  But  as  it  would  not  follow  in  the  one  case  that  the  sick 
man  could  appreciate  the  value  of  the  physician  till  he  felt  his 
sickness,  neither  does  it  follow  in  the  other  that  faith  towards  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  precedes  such  a  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin  as  in- 
volves the  first  workings  of  repentance  toward  God. 

To  argue  as  some  have  done,  from  the  motives  of  repentance 
being  fetched  from  the  gospel,  that  it  supposes  their  believing  the 
gospel  ere  they  could  repent,  proves  too  much  ;  for  it  is  not  to 
repentance  only,  but  to  faith,  that  the  coming  of  Christ's  kingdom 


Letteii  v.]  repentance  AND  lAITlI  401 

is  hoKl  up  as  a  motive  :  but  to  say  that  tins  supposes  their  belief 
of  the  gospel,  is  .sayin;i  they  must  believe  in  order  to  helieviiii;. 

That  a  conviction  of  sin  (whether  it  include  the  tirst  workings 
of  repentance  or  not)  is  necessary  to  laith  in  Christ,  is  a  matter  so 
evident,  that  those  who  have  declaimed  most  agjunst  it,  have  not 
been  able  to  avoid  such  a  representation  of  thini^s.  It  is  remark- 
able, that  when  Mr.  Sandeman  comes  to  describe  his  "  ungodly 
man,"  he  always  contrives  to  make  him  not  oidy  full  of  distress, 
but  divested  of  all  self-righteons  pride  :  he  represents  him  as 
conceiving  that  there  are  none  more  ripe  for  hell  than  he,  and  jwj 
having  no  hope  hut  in  the  great  propitiation."*  Thus  also  Mr. 
Kcking,  when  describing  a  "  mere  siimer,"  represents  him  as  one 
who  "  feels  himself  in  a  perishing  condition,  and  is  conscious  that 
he  deserves  no  favour."! 

We  mu'it  not  say  that  repentance,  or  any  degree  of  a  right 
spirit,  so  precedes  faith  in  Christ  as  to  enter  into  the  nature  of  it  ; 
but  if  we  will  but  call  the  sinner  by  a  few  hard  names,  we  may 
describe  him  in  coming  (o  the  Saviour  as  sensible  of  his  utter  un- 
worthiucss,  as  divested  of  self-righteousness,  and  as  ripe  for  hell 
in  his  own  eyes  !  In  short,  we  may  depict  him  as  the  publican 
who  sought  merry  imder  a  humiliating  sense  of  bis  utter  unworthi- 
ness  to  receive  it,  so  that  we  still  call  him  ungodly.  And  to  this 
we  have  no  objection,  so  that  it  be  understood  of  the  character  un- 
der which  he  is  justified  in  the  eye  of  the  I^awgivcr ;  but  if  it  be 
maUe  to  mean  that  at  the  time  of  his  justification  he  is  in  heart  an 
enemy  of  God,  we  do  not  believe  it.  If  he  be,  however,  why  do 
not  these  writers  describe  him  as  an  enemy  ought  to  be  descri- 
bed ?  They  teach  ns  elsewhere  that  "  an  attachment  to  self- 
righteousness  is  natural  to  man  as  depraved;"  how  then  came 
these  ungodly  men  to  be  so  divested  of  it  ?  Why  are  they  not 
represented  as  thinking  themselves  in  a  fair  way  for  heaven,  and 
that  if  God  does  not  pardon  them  he  will  do  them  wrong  ?  Such 
is  the  ordinary  state  of  mind  of  ungodly  men,  or  mere  sinners, 
which  is  just  as  opposite  to  that  which  they  are  constrained  to 
represent,  as  the  spirit  of  the  phariscc  waste  that  of  the  publican. 

•  Letters  on  Tberon  and  Aspasio,  pp.  46. 48.        t  Enayi,  p.  41. 
Vol.  111.  51 


402  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  V. 

Mr.  M'Lean  will  tell  us  that  "  this  is  that  part  oi"  the  scheme, 
whereby  persons,  previously  to  their  believing  in  Christ,  are 
taught  to  extract  comfort  from  their  convictions."*  But,  what- 
ever Mr.  M.  may  think  or  say,  I  hope  others  will  give  me  credit 
when  I  declare  that  we  have  no  idea  of  any  well-grounded  com- 
fort being  taken  antecedently  to  believing  in  Christ.  The  publi- 
can is  described  as  humbling  himseff  hcfore  God  exalted  him  :  but 
he  did  not  derive  comfort  from  this.  If,  instead  of  looking  to  the 
mercy  of  God,  he  had  done  this,  it  would  have  been  a  species  of 
pbarisaic  self-exaltation.  But  it  does  not  follow  from  hence  that 
there  was  nothing  spiritually  good  in  his  self-abasement. 

But  JVIr.  M.  "  believes  a  person  may  be  so  convicted  in  his  con- 
science as  to  view  himself  merely  as  a  guilty  sinner;  that  is,  as 
having  no  righteousness  to  recommend  him  to  the  favour  of  God  ; 
and  that  under  such  conviction  his  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin  will  not 
be  confined  to  its  punishment ;  but  his  conscience  or  moral  sense 
will  tell  him  that  he  deserves  punishment  at  the  hands  of  a  right- 
eous God."t 

Mr.  M'Lean  admits,  then,  the  necessity  of  conviction  of  sin, 
previously  in  the  order  of  things,  to  faith  in  Christ ;  only  there  is 
no  holiness,  and  consequently  no  true  repentance  in  it.  1  have 
allowed  in  Letter  I.  that  many  convictions  are  to  be  resolved  into 
the  mere  operations  of  an  enlightened  conscience,  and  do  not  issue 
in  true  conversion.  I  may  add,  I  consider  all  conviction  of  sin 
which  does  not  in  its  own  nature  lead  to  the  Saviour,  a?  of  this  de- 
scription. It  matters  not  how  deep  the  distress  of  a  sinner  may 
be  ;  so  long  as  it  is  accompanied  by  an  unwillingness  to  be  saved 
by  mere  grace  though  a  mediator,  there  is  no  holiness  in  it,  nor 
any  thing  that  deserves  the  name  of  repentance.  An  enlightened 
conscience,  I  allow,  will  force  us  to  justify  God  and  condemn  our- 
selves on  many  occasions.  It  was  thus  in  Pharoah,  when  he  said, 
The  Lord  is  righteous,  and  I  and  my  people  are  wicked.  And  this 
his  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin  might  not  be  "  confined  to  [{s  punish- 
ment:''^ his  "  conscience  or  moral  sense  might  tell  him  that  he  de- 
served punishment  at  the  hand  of  a  righteous  God."     So  far  then 

*  Reply,  p.  148.  t  Ibid.  p.  149. 


LkttkrV.I  RKPKNTANCE  AND  fc'AITH. 


40^ 


we  are  agreeJ.  But  il"  I'liaioah  li.ul  a  Just  scmisc  of  llie  tvil  ol 
sin,  it  would  not  h;iv»'  left  liitii  wliere  it  did.  There  wa«  an  essen- 
tial ditTereucc-  between  what  ho  saw  b^  the  terrors  of  God's  judg- 
ments, and  what  I'aul  saw  when  "sin  by  the  commandment  be- 
came exceeding  sinful."  Nor  can  I  believe  that  any  sinner  was 
ever  so  divested  of  self-righteous  hope  as  to  consider  himself  a 
mere  sinner,  who  yet  continued  to  reject  the  Saviour  :  for  this 
were  the  same  thing  as  for  him  to  have  no  ground  to  stand 
upon,  either  false  or  true  ;  but  he  who  submits  not  to  the  right- 
eousness of  God,  is,  in  some  form  or  other,  going  about  to  estab- 
lish his  own  righteousness. 

There  is,  I  apprehend,  an  important  difference  between  the 
case  of  a  person,  who,  whatever  be  his  convictions,  is  still  averse 
from  giving  up  every  claim,  and  falling  at  the  feet  of  the  Saviour; 
and  that  of  one  whose  convictions  lead  him  to  take  refuge  in  the 
gospel,  as  far  as  he  understands  it,  even  though  at  present  he  may 
have  but  a  very  imperfect  view  of  it.  1  can  clearly  conceive  of 
the  convictions  of  the  first  as  having  no  repentance  or  holiness  in 
them  hut  not  so  of  the  last.  I  believe  repentance  has  begun  to  op- 
erate in  many  persons  of  this  description,  who  as  yet  have  not 
found  that  peace  or  rest  for  their  souls,  which  the  gospel  is  adapt- 
ed to  afford,  in  short,  the  question  is,  whether  there  be  not  such 
a  thing  as  spiritual  conviction,  or  conviction  which  proceeds  from 
the  special  influence  of  the  spirit  of  God,  and  which  in  its  own 
nature  invariably  leads  the  soul  to  Christ  ?  It  is  not  necessary 
that  it  should  be  known  by  the  party,  or  by  others,  to  be  so  at 
the  time,  nor  can  it  be  known  but  by  its  effects,  or  till  it  has  led 
the  sinntr  to  believe  in  Christ  alone  for  salvation.  But  this  does 
not  prove  but  that  it  may  exist.  And  when  I  read  of  sin  by  the 
commandment  becoming  exceeding  sinful  ;  of  our  being  through 
the  law,  dead  to  the  law,  that  wc  might  lire  unto  God ;  of  the  law 
being  appointed,  as  a  school-master  to  bring  us  to  Christ,  that  we 
might  be  Justified  by  faith; — I  am  persuaded  it  does  exist;  and 
that  to  say  all  spiritual  conviction  of  sin  is  by  means  of  the  gospel, 
is  antiscriptural  and  absurd. 

In  places  where  the  gospel  is  preached,  and  where  persons  have 
long  heard  it.  it  is  not    supposed  that  they   i're    necessarily   first 


404  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  V, 

led  to  think  of  the  law,  and  of  themselves  as  transgressors  of  it  ; 
and  then,  being  convinced  of  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin  by 
it,  are  for  the  first  time  led  to  think  of  Christ.  No,  it  is  not  the 
order  of  time,  but  that  of  cause  and  effect,  for  which  I  plead.  It 
may  be  by  thinking  of  the  death  of  Christ  himself  that  we  arc 
first  led  to  see  the  evil  of  sin  ;  but  if  it  be  so,  this  does  not  dis- 
prove the  apostolic  doctrine,  that  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of 
sin.  If  the  death  of  Christ  furnish  us  with  this  knowledge,  it  is 
as  honouring  the  precept  and  penalty  of  the  law.  It  is  still,  there- 
fore by  the  law,  as  exemplified  in  him,  that  we  are  convinced. 

A  spirit  of  Grace  and  supplication,  was  to  be  poured  upon  the 
houf.e  of  David,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  in  con  -equence 
of  which  they  were  to  look  upon  him  whom  they  had  pierced,  and 
mourn  asfor  an  only  son,  and  to  be  in  bitterness  as  one  that  is  in 
bitterness  for  his  first-horn.  Is  this  mourning  described  as  follow- 
ing, or  as  preceding  their  forgiveness  ?  As  preceding  it.  It  is  trae, 
they  are  said  first  to  look  upon  him  whom  they  had  pierced  ;  but 
this  view  of  the  death  of  the  Saviour  is  represented  as  working 
only  in  a  way  of  conviction  and  lamentation  :  the  view  which  gave 
peace  and  rest  to  their  souls  follows  upon  their  mourning,  and  is 
thus  expressed  :  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  fountain  open  to  the 
house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for  sin  and 
for  uncleanness. 

Judge  my  friend,  and  let  the  reader  judge,  whether  this  account 
accords  with  our  first  viewing  God  as  just,  and  justifying  us  un- 
godly as  we  stand  ;  and  then  beginning  to  love  him,  and  to  repent 
of  our  having  sinned  against  him.  Judge  whether  it  does  not 
rather  represent  things  in  this  order  :  First,  a  spirit  of  grace  and 
supplication  is  poured  upon  the  sinner  ;  next  he  is  led  to  think 
of  what  he  has  done  against  the  Lord  and  his  Christ,  and  mourns 
over  it  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul;  and  then  gets  relief  by 
washing,  as  it  were,  in  the  fountain  of  his  blood.  Such  was  doubt- 
less the  process  under  Peter's  sermon.     Acts  ii.  S7,  38. 

On  the  connexion  of  repentance  and  faith,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  as- 
certain Mr.  M'Lean's  sentiments.  He  says  indeed,  that  I  know 
ihem  ;  and  suggests  that  I  must  have  intentionally  misrepresented 


Lkiter  v.]  IICPENTANCE  AND" FAITH.  405 

them.*  But  if  tliey  be  so  plain,  I  can  only  say  my  understanding 
is  more  dull  tlian  he  supposes  ;  for  I  do  not  yet  comprehend  how 
he  can  make  repentance,  in  all  cases  a  fruit  of  faith  in  Christ,  and 
yet  considers  it  as  necessary  to  forgiveness.  He  acknowledges 
that  "  none  believe  who  do  not  repent  ;"  (p.  39.)  and  that  repen- 
ance  is  "necessary  to  forgiveness."  p.  36.)  But  forgiveness, 
though  not  the  same  thing  as  justification,  is  yet  an  essential  part 
of  it ;  if  therefore,  he  allows  repentance  to  be.  antecedent  to  for- 
giveness, that  is  the  same  thing  in  effect  as  allowing  it  to  be  ante- 
cedent to  justification,  or  that  the  faith  by  which  we  are  justified 
includes  repentance.  Yet  he  makes  faith  to  be  such  a  belief  as 
excludes  all  exercise  of  the  will  or  affections,  and  consequentlj 
repentance  for  sin.  He  also  considers  repentance  as  an  immedi- 
ate effect  of  faith,  (p.  38.)  and  opposes  the  idea  of  any  effect  ol 
faith  being  included  in  it  as  necessary,  not  merely  as  a  procuring 
cause,  but  in  the  established  order  of  things,  to  justification.  But 
this,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  understand  things,  is  making  repent- 
ance follow  upon  forgiveness,  rather  than  necessary  to  it. 

Mr.  MXean  adds,  "  Though  repentance  ought  to  be  urged 
upon  all  who  hear  the  gospel  ;  and  though  none  believe  it  who 
do  not  repent  ;  yet  1  strongly  suspect  that  it  would  be  leading  us 
astray,  to  press  repentance  upon  them  before,  and  in  order  to 
their  believing  the  gospel."  (p.  39.)  And  why  does  he  not  suspect 
the  ?ame  thing  of  pressing  the  belief  of  the  gospel  before,  and  io 
order  to  their  repentance  ?  If  indeed  the  gospel  were  withheld 
from  sinners  till  they  actually  repent  ;  or  if  it  were  suggested  that 
they  should  first  become  jienitents,  and  then  think  of  being  be- 
lievers, this  would  be  leading  them  astray  :  and  the  same  might  be 
said  on  the  other  side.  If  exhortations  to  repentance  were  with- 
held till  the  sinner  had  actually  believed,  or  it  wore  suggested  that 
he  should  first  become  a  believer,  and  then  think  of  repenting, 
this  would  be  as  antiscriptural  as  the  other.  But  why  should  we 
not  content  ourselves  with  the  following  examples  ot  the  \ew 
Testament, — Repent  and  believe  the  gospel?  As  Mr.  M'Lcan's 
placing  faith  before  repentance  does  not  require  him  to  avoid  tel- 

"  Reply,  yi.  "ift 


406  COiNNEXlOxN  OF  [Lkttkh  V. 

ling  sinners  ot  the  evil  nature  ot'sin  till  they  have  believed,  nor  to 
consider  them  as  believers  while  they  are  impenitent,  why  does 
he  impute  such  consequences  to  me,  for  placing  repentance  before 
faith  ? 

Mr.  M'Lean  refers  to  a  passage  in  the  preface  to  the  first  edi- 
tion of  The  Gospel  worthy  of  all  Acceptation,  as  favouring  these 
extravagant  constructions.  I  had  said,  "  No  sort  of  encourage- 
ment or  hope  is  held  out  in  all  the  book  of  God,  to  any  sinner  as 
such  considered."  That  which  1  meant  at  the  time,  was  merely 
to  disown  that  any  sinner  was  encouraged  to  hope  for  eternal  life 
without  returning  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  I  explained  it 
in  my  answer  to  Philanthropos ;  but,  as  I  perceived  the  idea  was 
not  clearly  expressed  in  the  preface,  and  that  the  words  were  ca- 
pable of  an  ill  construction,  I  altered  them  in  the  second  edition, 
and  expressed  my  meaning  as  follows  :  ''  There  is  no  dispute 
concerning  who  ought  to  be  encouraged  to  consider  themselves  as 
entitled  to  the  blessings  of  the  gospel.  Though  sinners  be  freely 
invited  to  the  participation  of  spiritual  blessings,  yet  tliey  have  no 
interest  in  them,  according  to  God's  revealed  will,  while  they  con. 
linue  in  unbelief"  1  cannot  consider  Mr.  M'Lean's  o^Aer  referen- 
ces to  the  first  edition,  after  a  second  was  in  his  hand,  as  fair  or 
candid  ;  and  this  appears  to  me  unfair  and  uncandid  in  the  ex- 
treme. 

It  has  been  common  to  distinguish  repentance  into  legal  and 
evangelical ;  and  I  allow  there  is  a  foundation  in  the  nature  of 
things  for  this  distinction.  The  former  arises  from  the  considera- 
tion of  our  sin  being  a  transgression  of  the  holy,  just,  and  good  law 
of  our  Creator  ;  the  latter  from  the  belief  of  the  mercy  of  God  as 
revealed  in  the  gospel,  and  the  consideration  of  our  sin  being  com- 
mitted notwithstanding,  and  even  against  it.  But  it  appears  to  me, 
to  have  been  too  lightly  taken  for  granted,  that  all  true  repentance 
is  confined  to  the  latter.  The  law  and  the  gospel  are  not  in  oppo- 
sition to  each  other  :  why  then  should  repentance  arising  from 
the  consideration  of  them,  be  so  opposite  as  that  the  one  should 
be  false  and  the  other  true  ? 

If  we  wish  to  distinguish  the  false  from  the  true,  or  that  which 
needs  to  be  repented  of  from  that  which  does  not,  we  may,  per- 


LtTTKa  v.]  REPENTANCE  AND  FAITH  407 

haps  witli  more  propriety,  denominate  tlnin  natural  and  sjiiritun/ ; 
by  the  former,  understamiing  that  wljicli  (he  mere  princi|)le3  of 
unrenewed  nature  are  capalde  of  prodncin<;,  and  by  the  hitter,  that 
>vliich  jiroceeds  from  the  supernatural  and  renovalini;  influence  oi' 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

Natural  repentance,  thus  defined,  is  sorrow  for  sin,  chiefly  unit 
respect  to  its  consequences,  accompanied,  however,  willi  the  re- 
proaches of  conscience  on  account  of  the  thinj;  itself.  It  is  com- 
posed of  remorse,  tear,  and  regret,  and  is  often  folhnved  by  h 
change  of  conduct.  It  may  arise  from  a  view  of  the  hnv  nnd  its 
ihreatenings,  in  which  case  it  hath  no  hope,  hut  uorketh  death, 
on  account  of  (here  being;  nothing  but  death  hehl  out  by  the  law 
(or  transgressors.  Or  it  n»ay  arise  from  a  partial  and  fd-c  view  ol 
the  gospel,  by  w  hich  the  heart  is  often  melled  under  an  idea  of 
sin  beint^  forgiven  when  it  is  not  so  ;  in  this  case  it  hath  ho|)e,  but 
which  being  unfounded,  it  notwithstanding  worketh  death  in  rt 
way  of  self-deception. 

Spiritual  repentance  is  sorrow  tor  sin  as  sin,  and  as  committftl 
against  God.  It  may  arise  from  a  view  of  the  death  of  Christ, 
through  which  >ve  perceive  how  evil  and  bitter  a  thing  il  is,  and 
looking  on  him  whom  we  have  pierced,  mourn  as  one  inourneth 
tor  an  only  son.  But  it  may  also  arise  from  the  consideration  ot 
our  sin  being  a  transgression  of  the  holy,  just,  and  good  lavvoi 
God,  and  of  our  having  dishonoured  him  without  cause.  Such  u 
sense  of  the  evil  nature  of  sin  as  renders  it  exceeding  sinful,  in- 
cludes the  essence  of  true  repentance  .  yet  this,  in  the  .Apostle, 
did  not  arise  frojn  the  consideration  of  the  gospel,  but  of  the  com- 
mandment. It  was  therefore  legal  repentance  :  yet  as  its  tenden- 
cy wjis  to  render  him  "dead  to  the  law"  as  a  medium  of  justitica 
tion,  and  to  bring  him  to  Christ  for  life,  it  was  spiritual.  It  was 
repentance  vnto  life. 

The  chief  ground  on  which  repentance  toward  God  has  been 
denied  to  precede  faith  in  Christ  in  the  order  of  nature  is,  that  no 
man  can  repent  of  sin  till  he  entertain  the  hope  of  forgiveness. 
Nay,  it  has  been  said,  "  No  man  can  repent  unless  he  know  him- 
self to  be  of  God  ;  and  as  this  cannot  be  known  till  he  hath  receiv- 
ed Christ,  faith  mu«t  precede  repentance."     If  the  principle  thfl» 


408  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  V. 

s'upports  this  argument  be  true,  we  neither  have,  nor  ought  to 
have,  any  regard  to  God  or  man,  but  for  our  own  sake.  But  if  so, 
the  command  ought  not  to  have  been,  ♦'  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  soul  and  mind  and  strength,  and  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself;"  but,  '  Thou  shalt  love  thyself  with  all  thy 
heart  and  soul  and  mind  and  strength,  and  thy  God  and  thy  neigh- 
bour so  far  as  they  are  subservient  to  thee.'  Moreover,  if  so,  the 
world,  instead  of  being  greatly  depraved,  is  very  nearly  what  it 
ought  to  be  ;  for  it  is  certainly  not  wanting  in  self-love,  though  it 
misses  the  mark  in  accomplishing  its  object. 

Some  have  allowed  that  it  is  our  duty  to  Jove  God  supremely, 
whether  he  save  us  or  not ;  but  that,  nevertheless,  the  thing  is 
impossible."  If  it  be  p%s?ca//T/ impossible  it  cannot  be  duty  ;  for 
God  requires  nothing  in  respect  of  obedience  but  that  we  love 
him  with  all  our  strength.  If  it  be  only  morally  impossible,  that  is 
the  same  as  its  being  so  owing  to  the  corrupt  state  of  our  minds. 
But  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  God,  in  saving  sinners,  any  more 
than  in  judging  them,  consults  their  depraved  spirit,  and  adapts  the 
gospel  to  it.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  design  of  all  that  God  does 
for  us,  to  restore  us  to  a  right  spirit.  His  truth  must  not  bend  to 
•ur  corruptions  ;  but  our  hearts  must  be  "inclined  to  his  testimo- 
nies." So  far.  therefore,  as  any  man  is  renewed  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  so  far  is  be  brought  to  be  of  God's  mind,  and  does  what  he 
ought  to  do.     God's  law  is  written  in  his  heart. 

Farther  :  If  the  principle  that  supports  this  argument  be  true, 
it  will  hold  good  in  reference  to  men,  as  well  as  to  God.  And  is 
is  true  that  a  man  who  is  under  just  condemnation  for  breaking  the 
laws,  and  who  has  no  hope  of  obtaining  a  pardon,  ought  not  to  be 
expected  to  repent  for  his  crime,  and,  before  he  die,  to  pray  God 
to  bless  his  king  and  country?  On  this  principle,  all  confessions  of 
this  kind  are  of  necessity  mere  hypocrisy.  Even  those  of  the 
dying  thief  in  the  gospel,  so  far  as  they  respect  the  justice  of  his 
doom  from  his  countrymen,  must  have  been  insincere  ;  for  he  had 
no  hope  of  his  sentence  being  remitted.  What  would  an  offended 
father  say,  if  the  offender  should  require,  as  the  condition  of  his 
repentance,  a  previous  declaration  of  forgiveness,  or  even  of  a 
willingness  to  forgive  ?  A  willingness  to  forgive  might  be  dpclared, 


I^ETrttK  v.]  RFPENTANCE  AND  FAini.  409 

and  it  would  heighten  the  criminality  of  the  offender  if  after  this 
he  continued  hardened  ;  but  for  him  to  require  it.  and  to  avow  ttiat 
he  could  not  repent  of  bis  ?in  upon  any  other  condition,  would  be 
tlie  height  of  insolence.  Yet  all  this  is  pleaded  for  in  respect  of 
God.     If  1  be  a  Father,  zvhere  is  mine  honour  ! 

Besides,  how  is  a  sinner  to  "  know  that  he  is  of  God,"  other- 
wi^•e  than  as  being  conscious  of  repentance  towards  God  and  laith 
toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?  Till  he  is  sorry  at  heart  for  hav- 
ing dishonoured  God,  he  is  not  of  God,  and  therefore  cannot 
know  that  he  is  so. 

If  some  have  gone  into  extremes   m  writing  of  "  disinterested 
love,"  as  Mr.   M'Lcan  sug^iests,  it  does  not  follow  that  true  ridi- 
gion  has  its  origin  in  self-love.     Most  men,  who  make  any  pre- 
tence to  serious  Christianity,  will  allow  that  if  sin  be  not  hated  a» 
sin,  it  is  not  haled  at  all  ;  and  why  we  should  scruple  to  allow  that 
if  God  be   not  loved  an  God,  he  is  not  loved  at  all,  I  cannot  con 
ceive.     I  am  not  surprised  however,  that  those  who  have  been  so 
long  and    so  deeply  imbibed  in  a  system,  a   leading  principle  of 
which  is,  •'  that  godliness  consists  in  love  to  that  which   first  re- 
lieves us,"  should  write  in  the  manner  they  do. 
On  some  occasions,  however,  3Ir.  M'Lean  himself  can  say  as  much 
in  favour  of"  disinterested  love,"  as  his  opjionent,  and  can  repre- 
sent that  which  arises  from  "  a  mere  principle  ofself-love"  as  being 
of  no  value.     "There  may  be  some  resemblances  of  repeninnce,^' 
he  says,  "  in  fear,  remorse,  and  sorrow  of  mind,  occasioned  by  sin; 
as  in  Cain,  Judas,  Felix,  &c.     But  a  mere  principle  of  self-love 
will  make  a  man  dread  the   consequences  of  sin,   while  he  has 
prevalent  inclinations  to  sin  itself.     There  is  a  difference  between 
mere  fear  and  sorrow  on  account  of  sin,  and  a  prevalent  hatred  of 
it ;  between  hatred  of  sin  itself,  and  mere  hatred  of  its  consequen- 
ces ;  between  that  sorrow  for  sin  which  flovvs  from  the  love  of 
<iod  and  of  holiness,  and  that  which  flows  from  an  inferior  princi- 
ple.    Men  may  have  an  aversion  to  some  kinds  of  sin,  because 
they  interfere  with  others,  or  because  they  do  not  suit  their  natural 
constitutions,  propensities,  tempers,  habits,  age,  worldly  interests, 
SiC.  while  they  do  not  hate  all  sin  universally,  and  conscq'iontly 
hate  no  sin  as  such,  or  from  a  proper  principle."     IVork^,  Vol.  II 
p.  95.  1  am  yours,  &ic. 

Vol.  hi.  '■^<i 


JLETTER  VI. 


on    THE    CONNEXION    BFTWEEN    KNOWLKDGF.    AND    DISPOSITIOW. 


My  Dear  Friend, 

You  need  not  be  told  that  this  is  a  subject  of  prime  importance^ 
in  the  Sandemanian  system.  It  every  where  considers  knowledge 
as  the  ooe  thing  needful,  and  disposition  as  its  natural  and  proper 
effect. 

Mr.  MXean  represents  me  as  maintaining  that  the  understand- 
ing, or  perceptive  faculty  in  man,  is  directed  and  governed  by 
his  will  and  inclinations  ;  and  this  he  supposes  to  be  the  principle 
on  which  my  arguments  are  principally  founded  ;  a  principle  which 
can  only  be  true,  he  thinks,  in  cases  where  the  original  order  of 
things  is  perverted  by  sin.*  Whether  these  sentiments  be  just,  or 
contain  a  fair  statement  of  my  views,  we  shall  inquire  as  we  pro- 
ceed :  at  present,  I  only  observe,  that  the  state  of  the  will,  or 
disposition,  is.  in  Mr.  iM'Lean's  account  governed  invariably  by  the 
understanding  ;  or,  if  in  any  instance  it  be  otherwise,  it  is  owin» 
to  the  disorder  introduced  by  sin.  I  should  not  have  supposed, 
however,  that  sin  could  have  perverted  the  estabhshed  laws  of 
nature.  It  certainly  perverts  the  moral  order  of  things,  that  is 
(as  Dr.  Owen  represents  it,  to  whom  Mr.  M,  refers,)  instead  of 
the  will  being  governed  by  judgment  and  conscience,  judgment 
and  conscience  are  often  governed  by  prejudice.  But  there  is 
nothing  in  all  tliis  subversive  of  the  established  laws  of  nature  : 

*  Reply,  p.  8, 9. 


4iS  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  VI. 

for  it  is  a  law  reccgaized  both  by  nature  and  scripture,  that  the 
disposition  of  the  soul  sliouid  influence  its  decision?.  A  humble 
and  candid  spirit  is  favourable,  and  a  proud  and  uncandid  spirit  is 
unfavourable,  to  a  right  judgment. 

"  It  is  a  maxim,"  says  i\Ir.  Ecking,  "  that  has  not  yet  been  re- 
futed, that  the  determination  of  the  will  raust  evermore  follow  the 
illumination,  conviction,  and  notice  of  the  understanding."*  By 
the  illumination,  conviction,  and  notice  of  the  understanding,  must 
be  meant,  either  what  the  mind  judges  to  be  right,  or  what  it  ac- 
counts agreeable.  If  the  will  were  always  determined  by  the 
first,  there  could  be  no  such  thing  as  knowing  the  will  of  God  and 
not  doing  it.  But  I  suppose  this  will  not  be  pretended.  It  must, 
therefore,  be  of  the  last  that  Mr.  Ecking  writes.  His  meaning 
must  be,  that  the  will  evermore  follows  the  mind's  view  of  the  ob- 
ject as  agreeable.  But  is  it  certain  that  the  viewing  of  an  object 
agreeable  is  properly  and  perfectly  distinct  from  choosing  it  ? 
President  Edwards  conceived  it  was  not,  and  therefore  did  not 
athrm  that  the  will  was  determined  by  the  greatest  apparent  good, 
but  merely,  that  ''  the  will  always  is  as  the  greatest  apparent  good, 
or  as  what  appears  most  agreeable  £s."t  This  is  not  saying  that 
the  will  is  determined  by  the  understanding  :  for,  as  the  same  au- 
thor goes  on  to  prove,  the  cause  of  an  object  appearing  agreeable 
to  the  mind  may  be  '  the  state,  frame,  or  temper  of  the  mind  it- 
self" But  so  far  as  this  is  the  case,  the  judgment  is  determined 
by  the  state  of  the  mind,  rather  than  the  state  of  the  mind  by  the 
judgment. 

A  great  deal  of  confusion  on  this  subject  has  arisen  from  con- 
founding simple  knowledge,  pertaining  merely  to  the  intellectual 
faculty,  with  that  which  is  compound,  or  comprehensive  of  appro- 
bation. The  former  is  with  propriety  distinguished  from  what- 
ever pertains  to  the  state  of  the  will ;  but  the  latter  is  not,  seeing 
it  includes  it. 

Mr.  M'Lean,  speaking  of  certain  characters,  who  had  heard 
the  gospel,  says,  "It  is  supposed  that  such  men  have  now  recei- 
ved some  information  which  they  had  not  before,  both  with  re- 
spect to  their  danger,  and  the   remedy   of  it,  and" — what  ?  that 

*  Essays,  p.  54.  +  On  the  Will,  Part  I.  Section  II.  p.  11. 


Letter  VI. J        KNOWLEDGE  AND  DISPOSITION.  413 

thfir  wills  or  dispositions  hpc  in  that  proportion  changed  ?  No, 
but  '*  that  they  are  hereby  rendered  quite  inexcusable  if  they 
should  ncglert  so  j^reat  salvation  ;  which  neglect  must  now  be  the 
efleot  of  pcrversenoss  and  aversion,  and  not  of  simple  ignorance. 
John  iii.  19.  xv.  2.  25."*  1  do  not  say  of  Mr.  M.  as  he  did  of  me, 
Wlien  1  was  only  reasoning  upon  the  principles  of  my  opponents, 
that  "  he  can  take  either  side  of  the  question  as  he  finds  occasion  :'' 
but  this  I  say,  that  when  writing  in  favour  of  the  calls  of  the  gos- 
pel, he  felt  himself  impelled  to  admit  principles  of  which,  in  his 
controversy  on  the  other  side,  he  has  quite  lost  sight.  The  above 
statement  appears  to  me  to  be  very  just,  and  as  he  here  so  prop- 
erly distinguishes  simple  ignorance  from  ignorance  which  arises 
from  aversion  or  neglect ;  the  one  as  tending  to  excuse,  the  other  to 
crinunate  :  he  cannot  consistently  object  to  my  distinguishing  be- 
tween simple  knowledge,  which  barely  renders  men  inexcusable, 
and  knowledge  inclusive  of  approbation,  which  has  the  promise  of 
eternal  life. 

Simple  knowledge,  or  knowledge  as  distinguished  from  approba* 
tion,  as  a  mere  natural  accomplishment,  necessary  to  the  perform- 
ance of  both  good  and  evil,  but  in  itself  neither  the  one  nor  the 
Olher.  Instead  of  proilucing  love,  it  often  occasions  an  increasing 
enmity,  and  in  all  cases  renders  sinners  the  less  excusable.  In 
this  sense,  the  term  knowledge  and  others  related  to  it  are  used  in 
the  following  passages  :  The  servant  who  knew  his  Lord's  xvill,  and 
did  it  not,  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes. — When  they  knew 
God,  they  glorified  him  not  as  God. — If  ye  know  these  things,  hap- 
py are  ye  if  ye  do  them. — If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  tmto  them, 
they  had  not  had  sin,  but  now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin. — If  I 
had  not  done  among  them  the  works  which  none  other  man  did,  they 
had  not  had  sin;  bnt  nozu  they  have  both  sekn  and  hated  both  mc 
and  my  Father. 

But  knowledge  is  much  more  frequently  used  in  the  scripture? 
as  including  approbation.  The  Lord  is  said  to  know  the  righteous, 
and  never  to  have  known  the  workers  of  miquity.  To  understand 
this  of  simple  knowledge,  would  deprive  God  of  bis  omni'^cieDC'' 

*'  Thoughts  on  Call?,  fcr.  p  J  7 


414  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  VI. 

As  ascribed  to  men,  it  is  what  is  denominated  a  spiritual  under- 
standing. It  is  not  necessary  to  an  obligation  to  spiritual  duties, 
but  it  is  necessary  in  the  nature  of  things  to  the  actual  discharge  of 
them.  It  may  be  said  of  the  want  of  this,  "  The  Lord  hath  not 
given  you  eyes  to  see,  and  ears  to  hear,  to  this  day  ;"  and  that, 
without  furnishing  any  excuse  for  the  blindness  of  the  parties.  It 
is  the  wisdom  from  above,  imparted  by  the  illuminating  influence 
«f  the  Holy  Spirit. 

That  knowledge,  in  this  sense  of  the  term,  produces  holy  affec- 
tions is  not  denied.  It  is  in  itself  holy,  and  contains  the  principle 
of  universal  holiness.  It  is  that  by  which  we  discern  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  glory  being  beheld,  assimi- 
milates  us  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  as  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord.  But  the  question  at  issue  respects  knowledge  in  its 
simple  and  literal  sense,  or  that  which  is  purely  intellectual^  ex- 
clusive of  all  disposition  ;  otherwise  it  would  amount  to  no  more 
th-m  this,  whether  that  which  includes  the  seminal  principle  of 
holy  affection  (namely,  a  sense  of  heart)  tends  to  produce  it  :  which 
never  was  disputed. 

The  ground  on  which  I  am  supposed  to  have  proceeded  is, 
"  that  the  understanding,  or  perceptive  faculty  in  man,  is  directed 
and  governed  by  his  will  :"  but  this  is  a  mistake  :  I  ground  no 
doctrine  upon  any  theory  of  the  human  mind  which  I  may  have 
entertained ;  but  on  what  I  consider  as  the  scriptural  account  of 
things  ;  in  which  I  find  spiritual  perception  impeded  by  evil  dis- 
position, and  promoted  by  the  contrary.*  Neither  is  the  above  a 
fair  statement  of  my  views.  If  what  I  have  written  implies  any 
theory  of  the  human  mind,  it  is  not  that  the  understanding  is  in  all 
cases  governed  by  the  will  ;  but  rather  that  they  have  a  motual 
influence  on  each  other.  I  have  allowed,  in  my  Appendix,  that 
volitions  are  influenced  by  motives  or  considerations  which  exist 
in  the  view  of  the  mind  ;  and  I  should  think  it  is  equally  evident 
on  the  other  hand,  that  our  judgments  are,  in  a  great  number  of 
instances,  determined  by  a  previous  state  or  disposition  of  the 
soul.     In  objects  which  do  not  interest  the  affections,  the  judg- 

*  1  Cor.  ii.  14. 


Lkttk.hVI.]        KNOVVLEUGK   aNU   iJiSPOSITlON.  4jr, 

■lent  may  be  purely  iiitellectu^il,  and  the  choice  may  naturally 
follow  acroniin^  to  its  dictates'  ;  but  it  is  not  st»  in  other  cases  ag 
universal  experience  evinces. 

"  But  must  it  not  be  owned,"  says  Mr.  M.  in  his  Keply,  "  that 
so  far  as  this  is  the  case  in  man,  it  is  an  irregular  exercise  of  his 
faculties,  arising  from  the  moral  disorder  of  his  lapsed  nature, 
whereby  judgment,  reason,  and  conscience  are  weakened,  per- 
verted, and  blinded,  so  as  to  be  subjected  to  his  will  and  corrupt 
inclinations  .'"  (p.  8.)  It  must  undoubtedly  be  owned  that  the 
influence  of  an  evil  disposition  in  producing  an  erroneous  and 
false  judgment  is  owing  to  this  cause  ;  and  if  that  for  which  i  plead 
were  what  Mr.  M,  elsewhere  represents  it,  viz.  a  prejudice  in 
favour  of  a  report  which  renders  the  /ni'nd  regardless  of  evidence^ 
(p.  67.)  the  same  might  be  said  of  all  such  judgment.  But  how, 
if  the  state  of  the  will  contended  for  should  be  that  of  a  deliver- 
atir.c  from  prejudice,  by  which  evidence  comes  to  be  properl} 
regarded?  It  is  not  to  the  disorder  introduced  by  sin,  that  we 
are  to  ascribe  the  general  principle  of  the  moral  state  or  disposi- 
tion of  the  soul  having  an  inlluencc  on  the  judgment:  for  it  is  no 
less  true  that  a  humble,  candid,  and  impartial  spirit  induences  the 
belief  of  moral  truth,  or  truth  that  involves  in  its  consequences  the 
devoting  of  the  whole  life  to  Ciod,  than  that  a  selfish  and  corrupt 
■spirit  influences  the  rejection  of  it.  Surely  it  is  not  owing  to  the 
human  faculties  being  thrown  into  disorder,  that  a  holy  frame  of 
mind  in  believers  enables  them  to  understand  the  scriptures  bet- 
ter than  the  best  expositor !  The  experience  of  every  Christian 
bears  wit  less  that  the  more  spiritually-minded  he  is,  the  better  he 
IS  prepared  for  the  discernment  of  s{)iritual  things. 

Mr.  M'Lean  thinks  I  have  mistaken  the  meaning  of  the  term 
heart,  in  applying  it  to  the  dispositions  and  affections  of  the  soul, 
as  distinguished  from  the  understanding.  When  such  phrases  as 
a  heart  of  stone,  a  heart  of  flesh,  a  hard  and  impenitent  heart,  a 
tender  heart,  a  heart  to  knoTi)  the  Lord,  «$-c.  occur,  though  they  sup- 
pose the  intellectual  faculty,  yet  there  can  be  no  doubt,  I  should 
think,  of  their  expressing  the  state  of  the  will  and  affections,  rather 
than  of  the  understanding.  1  have  no  objection,  however,  to  the 
account  given  of  the  term  by  Dr.  Owen,  that  "  it  generally  denotes 


4iB  CONNEXION  OF  [Lktter  VI. 

the  whole  soul  of  man,  and  all  the  faculties  of  it,  not  absolutely, 
but  as  they  are  all  one  principle  of  moral  operations,  as  they  all 
concur  in  our  doing  good  or  evil.''''  The  term  may  sometimes 
apply  to  what  is  simply  natural ;  but  it  genecally,  as  he  says,  de- 
notes the  principle  of  moral  action,  which  being  comprehended  in 
love,  must  in  all  cases,  whether  it  relate  to  good  or  evil,  include 
affection.  And  thus,  in  his  Treatise  on  Justice,  Dr.  Owen  ob- 
serves that,  "  Assent  is  an  act  of  the  understanding  only  ;  but  be- 
lieving is  an  act  of  the  heart,  which  in  scripture  compriseth  all 
the  faculties  of  the  soul  as  one  entire  principle  of  moral  and  spir- 
itual duties.  With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness. 
Rom.  X.  10  ;  and  it  is  frequently  described  by  an  act  of  the  will, 
though  it  be  not  so  alone.  But  without  an  act  of  the  will  no  man 
can  believe  as  he  ought.  See  John  v.  40.  i.  12.  vi.  35.  We  come 
to  Christ  as  an  act  of  the  will ;  and  let  whosoever  will,  come  : 
and  to  be  willing  is  taken  for  believing.  Psa.  ex.  3.  And  unbe- 
lief is  disobedience.     Heb.  iii,  18,  19."     Chap.  I.  p.   108. 

Nay,  Mr.  M.  himself  acknowledges  nearly  as  much  as  this.  He 
says,  "  The  scriptures  always  represent  the  regenerating  and 
sanctifying  influences  of  the  Spirit  as  exerted  upon  the  heart, 
which  includes  not  only  the  understanding,  but  the  will  and  affec- 
tions, or  the  prevalent  inclinations  and  dispositions  of  the  soul." 
Works,  Vol.  II.  p.  91. 

That  disposition,  in  rational  being,  presupposes  perception,  I 
never  doubted  ;  but  that  it  is  produced  by  it,  is  much  easier  assert- 
ed than  proved.  Knowledge  is  a  concomitant  in  many  cases  where 
it  is  not  a  cause.  If  all  holy  disposition  be  produced  by  just  per- 
ceptions, all  evil  disposition  is  produced  by  unjust  or  erroneous 
ones.  Indeed  this  is  no  morethan  Mr.  M'Lean,  on  ?ome  occasions 
at  least,  is  prepared  to  admit.  He  fells  us  that  "  the  word  of  God 
represents  the  darkness,  blindness,  and  ignorance  of  the  mind, 
with  regard  to  spiritual  things,  as  the  source  of  men's  alienation 
from  the  life  of  God,  and  of  their  rebelling  against  him."  (p.  77.) 
Does  he  really  think,  then,  that  the  passages  of  scripture  to  which 
he  refers  mean  simple  ignorance  ?*     If  not,  they  make  nothing 

*  Ephes.  iv.  18,  19.  Actsxxvi.  18.  Ephes.  vi.  12.  Col.  i.  13, 


Letter  IV.]        KNOWLEDGE  AND  DISPOSITION.  4I7 

for  his  argument.  Does  he  seriously  consider  the  blvidneis,  or 
hardness  of  heart,  in  Ephes.  iv.  18,  as  referring  to  ignorance,  ia 
distiHctinn  from  a\c^s'\o^^,  or  as  including  hi*  Can  lie  imagine 
that  the  darkness  in  which  Satan  holds  mankind  is  any  other  than  a 
cho«en  and  beloved  darkness,  described  in  the  following  passages  ? 
They  Lovrn  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were 
evil. —  The  heart  of  this  people  is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are 
dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  have  they  closed. 

That  voluntary  blindness  renders  sinners  estranged  from  God, 
I  can  easily  understand,  nor  am  I  at  any  loss  to  conceive  of  its  be- 
ing '*  that  by  which  Satan  reigns,  and  maintains  his  power  over 
the  minds  of  men  :"  but  I  do  not  perceive,  in  any  of  these  facts, 
the  proof  of  disposition  having  its  origin  in  ignorance.  Two 
friends  whom  1  will  call  Matthew  and  Mark,  were  one  evening 
conversing  on  this  subject,  when  the  following  sentiments  were 
exchanged.  Ail  sin  (said  Matthew)  arises  from  ignorance. — Do 
you  think  then,  (said  Mark,)  that  God  will  condemn  men  for  what 
is  owing  to  a  want  of  natural  capacity?  O  no,  (said  Matthew,)  it 
is  a  voluntary  ignorance  to  which  I  refer  ;  a  nut  liking  to  retain 
God  in  their  knowledge.  Then  (said  Mark)  you  reason  in  a  cir- 
cle :  your  argument  amounts  to  this  :  All  sin  arises  from  igno- 
rance, and  this  ignorance  arises  from  sin ;  or,  which  is  the  same 
thing,  t'rom  aversion  to  the  light  ? 

If  Mr.  M'Lean,  or  others,  will  maintain  that  sin  is  the  effect  of 
simple  ignorance,  (and  this  they  mtist  maintain,  or  what  they  hold 
is  nothing  different  from  that  which  they  oppose,)  let  them  seri- 
ously consider  a  few  of  its  consequences,  as  drawn  by  some  of  our 
modern  Infidels.  It  is  on  this  principle  that  Mr.  Goodwin,  in  his 
treatise  on  Political  Justice,  denies  the  original  depravity  of  human 
nature  ;  explains  away  all  ideas  of  guilt,  crime,  desert,  and  ac- 
countableness  ;  and  represents  the  devil  himself  as  a  being  of  con- 
siderable virtue!     Thus  he  reasons  : 

•  iTuf,i»J»,  Parkhurst  observes,  is  from  7ra>f:u,  and  signifies,  hardnest,  cal- 
lousness, or  blindnets.  "it  is  not  mere  ignoraace,"  says  Dr.  Owen,  "but  a 
stubborn  reeislance  of  light  aud  conviction  ;  an  obdurate  hardness,  whence  it 
rejects  the  iDiprctsions  of  divine  truth."  Discourses  on  the  Holt/  Spirit,  Book 
ill.  Chap.  III. 

Vol..  HI.  53 


4i{{  CONNEXION  OF  [LkttkrVI. 

'^  The  moral  characters  of  men  originate  in  their  perceptions. 
As  there  are  no  innate  perceptions  or  ideas,  there  are  no  innate 
principles. — The  moral  qualities  of  men  are  the  produce  of  the 
impressions  made  upon  them,  and  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an 

ORIGINAL  PROPHNSITY  TO  UVIL."       Book  I.  Chap.  III. 

Again:  "  Vice  is  nothing  more  than  error  and  mistake  reduced 
to  practice. — Acting  from  an  ill  motive  is  acting  from  a  mistaken 
motive. — Under  the  system  of  necessity,  (that  is,  as  held  by  him,) 
the  ideas  of  guilt,  crime,  desert,  and  accountableness,  have 
NO  PLACE."     Book  IV.  Chap.  IV.— VI.  pp.  254.  314 

Again  :  "  Virtue  is  the  offspring  of  the  understanding. — It  is 
only  another  name  for  a  clear  and  distinct  perception  of  the  value 
of  the  object. — Virtue,  therefore,  is  ordinarily  connected  with 
great  talents. — Caesar  and  Alexander  had  their  virtues. — They 
imagined  their  conduct  conducive  to  the  general  good. — The 
devil,  as  described  by  Milton,  also  was  a  being  of  considerable 
virtue!  !  !  Why  did  he  rebel  against  his  maker  ?  Because  he 
saw  no  sufficient  reason  for  that  extreme  inequality  of  rank  and 
power  which  the  Creator  assumed. — After  his  fall,  why  did  he 
still  cherish  the  spirit  of  opposition  ?  From  a  persuasion  that  he 
was  hardly  and  injuriously  treated. — He  was  not  discouraged  by 
the  inequality  of  the  contest?"  Book  IV.  Chap.  IV.  App.  No. 
1.  p.  261. 

Allowing  this  writer  his  premises,  I  confess  myself  unable  lo 
refute  his  consequences.  If  all  sin  be  the  effect  of  ignorance,  so 
far  from  its  being  exceeding  sinful,  I  am  unable  to  perceive  any 
sinfulness  in  it.  It  is  one  of  the  clearest  dictates  in  nature,  and 
that  which  is  suggested  by  every  man's  conscience,  that  whatever 
he  does  wrong,  if  he  know  no  better,  and  his  ignorance  be  purely 
intellectual,  or  as  Mr.  M'Lean  calls  it,  simple;  that  is,  if  it  be  not 
owing  to  any  neglect  of  means,  but  to  the  want  of  means,  or  of 
powers  to  use  them,  it  is  not  his  fault. 

The  intellectual  powers  of  the  soul,  such  as  perception,  judg- 
ment, and  conscience,  are  not  that  to  moral  action  which  the  first 
wheel  of  a  machine  is  to  those  that  follow  ;  but  that  which  light 
and  plain  directions  are  to  a  traveller,  leaving  him  inexcusable  if 
be  walk  not  in  the  right  way. 


I.ktterVI.]         knowledge  and  disposition.  419 

But  I  sh.ill  be  told,  that  it  is  not  natural,  but  spiritual  knowl- 
edge, for  which  Mr.  M'Leari  plead?,  as  the  cause  of  holv  disposi- 
tion. True  :  but  he  pleads  for  it  upon  tlie  general  principle  of 
its  being  the  established  order  of  the  human  mind  that  disposition 
should  be  produced  by  knowledge.  Morever,  if  spiritual  knowl- 
edge should  be  found  tu  include  approbation,  it  cannot,  with  pro- 
priety, be  so  distinguished  from  it  as  to  be  a  cause  of  which  the  oth- 
er is  the  effect  :  for  to  say  that  all  disposition  arises  from  knowl- 
edge, and  that  knowledge  inclvdcs  approbation,  is  to  reason  in  a 
circle,  exactly  as,  in  the  case  just  supposed,  Matthew  reasoned 
on  all  sin  arising  from  ignorance,  which  ignorance  included  aver- 
sion. 

That  spiritual  knowledge  includes  approbation   in  its  very    na- 
ture, and  not  merely  in  its  effect,  appears  evident  to  me  from  two 
considerations.     First;  It  is   the  opposite    of  spiritual  blindness. 
2  Cor.  iv.  4 — 6.  Ephes.  v.  8.     But  spiritual  blindness  includes   in 
its  very  nature,  and  not   merely  in  its  effect,  an  aversion  to  the 
truth.     Mr.  Ecking  (whose  Essai/s  un  Grace,  faith  and  Experi- 
ence, have  been  reprinted  by  the  friends    of  this  system,  as  con- 
taining what  they  account,  no  doubt,  an  able  defence   of  their 
principles)  allows  the  inability  of  the  sinner  to  consist  in  his  lov- 
ing darkness  rather  than  light,  and  his  disinclination  to  depend  up- 
on a  holy  sovereign  God,  and  not  in  the  w:uit  of  rational  faculties. 
Describing  this  inability  in   other  words,   he  considers  it  as  com- 
posed of  "  error,  ignorance  and  unbelief,"  in  which  he  places  the 
'*  disease"  of  the  sinner,  "the  very  essence  of  the  natural 
man's  darkness  ;"  and    the   0[)posite8   of  them  he   makes  to    be 
"  truth,  knowledge,  and  faith,  which  being  implanted,"  he  savs, 
'*  the  soul  must  be  renewed."  pp.  66,  67.*     If  Mr.  E.  understood 
what  he  wrote,  he  must  mean  to  represent  spiritual  light  as   the 
proper  opposite  of  spiritual  darkness ;  and  as  he  allows  the  lat- 
ter, "  in  the  very  essence  of  it  to  include  aversion,"  he  must  al- 
low  the  former  in  the  very  essence  of  it  to  include  approbation. 
Secondly  :  The  objects  perceived  are  of  such  a  nature,  as  to  be 

*  I  have  only  the  first  Edition  of  Mr.  E's  Essays,  and  tbereforfi  nm  obliged 
to  quote  from  it. 


420  CONNEXION  or  [Letter  VI, 

known  only  by  n  sense  of  their  divine  excellency,  which  contains 
in  it  more  than  a  simple  knowledge,  even  an  approbation  of  the 
heart.     Those  who  have  written  upon  the  powers  of  the  soul, 
have  represented  "  that  whereby  we  receive  ideas  of  beauty  and 
harmony,  as  having  all  the  characters  of  a  sense,  an  eternal  sense. "^ 
And  Mr.  Ecking,  after  all  that  he  says  against  a  principle  of  grace 
m  the  heart  antecedently  to  believing,  allows  that  "  we  must  have 
a  spiritual  principle  before  we  can  discern  divine  beauties."!    But 
the  very  essence  of  scriptural  knowledge  consists  in  the   discern- 
ment of  divine  beauties,  or  ibeglory  of  God  inthe  face  of  Jesus 
Christ.     To  speak  of  faith  in  Christ  antecedent  to  this,  is  only  to 
speak  at  random.     The  reason  given  why  the  gospel  report  was 
not  believed  is,  that  in  the  esteem  of  men,  the  Messiah  had  no 
form  or  comeliness  in  him,  nor  beauty,  that  they  should  desire  him. 
To  say  we  must  have  a  spiritual  principle  before  we  can  discern 
divine  beauties,  is  therefore  the  same  thing,  in  efifect,  as  to  say, 
we  must  have  a  spiritual  principle  before  we  can  believe  the  gospel. 
I  will  close  this  letter  by  an  extract  from  President  Edwards's 
Treatise  on  the  Affections,  not  merely  as  showing  his  judgment, 
but  as  containing  what  I  consider  a  clear,  scriptural,  and  satisfac- 
tory statement  of  the  nature  of  spiritual  knowledge. 

"  If  the  scriptures  are  of  any  use  to  teach  us  any  thing,  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  a  spiritual  supernatural  understanding  of  divine 
things,  that  is  peculiar  to  the  saints,  and  which  those  who  are  not 
saints  have  nothing  of.  It  is  certainly  a  kind  of  understanding, 
apprehending,  or  discerning  of  divine  things,  that  natural  men 
have  nothing  of,  which  the  Aposlle[speaks  of,  1  Cor.  ii.  14.  But 
the  natural  man  rcceiveth  not  the  things  of  the  spirit  of  God  ;  for 
they  are  foolishness  unto  him ;  neither  can  they  know  them,  be- 
cause they  are  spiritually  discerned.  It  is  certainly  a  kind  of  see- 
ing or  discerning  spiritual  things  peculiar  to  the  saints,  which  is 
spoken  of,  1  John  iii.  6.  Whosoever  sinneth  hath  not  seen  him,  nei- 
ther know  him,  3  John  2.  He  that  doeth  evil  hath  not  seen  God. 
And  John  vL  40.  This  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  that  every 
one  that  seeth  the  son,  and  believeth  on  him  may  have  everlasting 
life.  Chap.  xiv.  19.     The  world  seeth  me  no  more,  but  ye  see  me. 

*  Chamber's  Dictioaary,  Art.  Sease.  t  Essays  p.  67, 


Letteu  VI.]         KNOWLEDGE  AND  DISPOSITION  joj 

< 'hap.  xvii  3.  This  is  eternal  life y  that  tJiey  might  know  thee  tht 
only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent.  Matt.  xi.  27 
No  man  Inoiccth  the  San,  but  the  Father,  neither  knowcth  any  man 
the  Father  but  the  San,  and  he  to  w/iomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal 
him.  John  xii.  45,  He  that  seeth  me,  seeth  him  that  sent  me.  Psa. 
ix.  10.  They  that  know  thy  name  will  put  thtir  trust  in  thee.  Phil, 
iii.  8.  /  count  all  things  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord.  Verse  10.  That  Imay  know  him.  And 
innumerable  other  places  there  are  all  over  the  Bible,  which  show 
the  same.  And  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  an  understanding  of 
divine  things,  which  in  its  nature  and  kind  is  wholly  different  from 
all  knowledge  that  natural  men  have,  is  evident  from  this,  that 
there  is  an  understanding  of  divine  things  which  the  scripture  calls 
spiritual  understanding  ;  Col.  i.  9.  We  do  not  cease  to  pray  for 
you,  and  to  desire  that  you  may  be  filed  with  the  knowledge  of  his 
will,  in  all  nisdom  and  spiritual  understariding.  It  has  already 
been  shown  that  that  which  is  spiritual,  is  the  ordinary  use 
of  the  word  in  the  New  Testament,  is  entirely  different,  in  na 
ture  and  kind,  from  all  which  natural  men  are,  or  can  be  the  sub- 
jects of. 

"  From  hence  it  may  be  surely  referred,  wherein  spiritual  un- 
derstanding consists.  For  if  there  be  in  the  saints  a  kiud  of  ap- 
prehension or  perception,  which  is,  in  its  nature,  perfectly  di- 
verse from  all  that  natural  men  hare,  or  that  it  is  possible  they 
should  have,  till  they  have  a  new  nature  ;  it  must  consist  in  their 
having  a  certain  kind  of  ideas  or  sensations  of  mind,  which  are  sim- 
ply diverse  from  all  that  is,  or  can  be,  in  the  minds  of  natural  men. 
And  that  is  the  same  thing  as  to  say,  that  it  consists  in  the  sen- 
sations of  a  new  spiritual  sense,  which  the  souls  of  natural  men 
have  not ;  as  is  evident  by  what  has  been  before,  once  and  again 
observed.  But  I  have  already  shown  what  that  new  spiritual 
sense  is,  which  the  saints  have  given  them  in  regeneration,  and 
what  is  the  object  of  it.  I  have  shown  that  the  immediate  object 
of  it  is  the  supreme  beauty  and  excellency  of  the  nature  of  di- 
vine things  as  they  are  in  themselves.  And  this  is  agreeable  to 
the  scripture  :  The  Apostle  very  plainly  teaches,  that  the  great 
things  diacovered  by  spiritual  light,  and  understood  by   spiritual 


42iJ  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  \l. 

knowledge,  is  the  glory  of  divine  things,  2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4,  But  if 
our  gospel  be  }iid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost :  in  whom  the  god 
of  this  zvorld  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them  which  believe  not,  lest 
the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God, 
should  shine  unto  them  ;  together  with  verse  6.  For  God  who  com- 
manded the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  in  our 
hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
face  of  Jesus  Christ :  and  Chap.  iii.  18.  But  we  all,  with  open  face 
beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory  ^  even  as  by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord. 
And  it  must  needs  be  so,  for,  as  has  been  before  observed,  the 
scripture  often  teaches  that  all  true  religion  sommarily  consists 
in  the  love  of  divine  things.  And  therefore  that  kind  of  under- 
standing of  knowledge  which  is  the  proper  foundation  of  true  re- 
ligion, must  be  the  knowledge  of  the  loveliness  of  divine  things. 
For  doubtless  that  knowledge  which  is  the  proper  foundation  of 
love,  is  the  knowledge  of  loveliues?.  What  that  beauty  or  love- 
liness of  divine  things  is,  which  is  the  proper  and  immediate  ob- 
ject of  a  spiritual  sense  of  mind,  was  showed  under  the  last  head 
insisted  on,  viz.  that  it  i?  the  beauty  of  their  moral  perfection. 
Therefore  it  is  in  the  view  or  sense  of  this,  that  spiritual  under- 
standing does  more  immediately  and  primarily  consist.  And  in- 
deed it  is  plain  it  can  be  nothing  else  ;  for  (as  has  been  shown) 
there  is  nothing  pertaining  to  divine  things  besides  the  beauty  of 
their  moral  excellency,  and  those  properties  and  qualities  of  di- 
vine things  which  this  beauty  is  the  foundation  of,  but  what  nat- 
ural men  and  devils  can  see  and  know,  and  will  know  fully  and 
clearly  to  all  eternity. 

•'  From  what  has  been  said,  therefore,  we  come  necessarily  to 
this  conclusion,  concerning  that  whereio  spiritual  understanding 
consists  ;  viz.  that  it  consists  in  a  sense  of  the  heart,  of  the  su- 
preme beauty  a7id  sweetness  of  the  holiness  or  moral  perfection  of 
divine  things,  together  with  all  that  discerning  and  knowledge  of 
things  of  religion,  that  depends  upon,  and  flows  from  such  a 
sense. 

'•  Spiritual  understanding  consists  primarily  in  a  sense  of  heart 
of  that  spiritual  beauty.     I  say,  a  nense  of  heart ;  for  it  is  not 


Letter  VI.]  KNOWLEDGE  AND  DISPOSITION.  423 

speculation!  merely  thai  is  concerned  in  this  kind  of  understand- 
ing ;  nor  can  there  be  a  clear  distinction  made  between  the  i\ro 
I'aculties  ot'  understanchng  and  will,  as  acting  distinctly  and  sep- 
arately, in  this  matter.  When  the  raind  is  sensible  of  the  sweet 
beauty  and  arniableness  of  a  thing,  that  implies  a  sensibleness  of 
sweetness  and  delight  in  the  presence  of  the  idea  of  it :  and  thi* 
sensibleness  of  the  arniableness,  or  delightfulness  of  beauty,  car- 
ries in  the  very  nature  of  it,  the  sense  of  the  heart ;  or  an  effect 
and  impression  the  soul  is  the  subject  of,  as  a  substance  possessed 
of  taste,  inclination  and  will. 

"  There  is  a  distinction  to  be  made  between  a  mere  notional 
understanding,  wherein  the  mind  only  beholds  things  in  the  exer- 
cise of  a  speculative  faculty  ;  and,  the  fiense  of  the  heart,  wherein 
the  mind  does  not  only  speculate  and  behold,  but  relishes  and  feels. 
That  sort  of  knowledge  by  which  a  man  has  a  sensible  perception 
of  arniableness  and  loathsomeness,  or  of  sweetness  and  nauseous- 
ness,  is  not  just  the  same  sort  of  knowledge  with  that  by  which  he 
knows  what  a  triangle  is,  and  what  a  square  is.  The  one  is  mere 
speculative  knowledge  ;  the  other  sensible  knowledge  ;  in  which 
more  than  the  mere  intellect  is  concerned  ;  the  heart  is  the  prop 
er  subject  of  it,  or  the  soul  as  a  being  that  not  only  beholds,  but 
has  inclination,  and  is  pleased  or  displeased.  And  yet  there  is 
the  nature  of  instruction  in  it ;  as  he  that  has  perceived  the  sweet 
taste  of  honey,  knows  much  more  about  it,  than  he  who  has  only 
looked  upon,  and  felt  of  it. 

"  The  Apostle  seems  to  make  a  distinction  between  mere  spec- 
ulative knowledge  of  the  things  of  religion,  and  spiritual  knowl- 
edge, in  calling  that  the  form  of  knnwle'lge,  and  of  the  truth  : 
Kom.  ii.  20.  Which  hast  the  form  of  knowledge,  and  of  the  truth 
in  the  laic.''  The  latter  is  often  represented  by  relishing,  smell- 
ing or  tasting  ;  2  Cor.  ii.  14.  Now  thanks  be  to  God,  who  al-ways 
causeth  us  to  triumph  in  Christ,  andmaketh  manifest  the  savour  o{ 
his  knowledge  in  every  jilace.  Matt.  xvi.  23.  Thou  savour  est  not 
the  things  that  be  of  God,  but  those  that  be  of  men.  1  Pet.  ii.  2,  3. 
As  new-born  babes  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word  that  ye  may 
groxa  thereby,  if  so  be  ye  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious. 
'^'ant.   i.  3.     Because   of  the  savour  of  thy  good  ointments^   th'i 


424  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  VI. 

natne  is  as  ointment  poured  forth  ;  therefore  do  the  virgins  love 
thee  ;  compared  with  1  John  ii.  20.  But  ye  have  an  unction  from 
the  holy  one,  and  ye  know  all  things. 

"  Spiritual  understanding  primarily  consists  in  this  sense,  or 
taste  of  the  moral  beauty  of  divine  things ;  so  that  no  knowledge 
can  be  called  spiritual,  any  further  than  it  arises  from  this,  and 
has  this  in  it.  But  secondarily,  it  includes  all  that  discerning  and 
knoioledge  of  things  of  religion  which  depends  upon,  and  flows 
from  such  a  sense.  When  the  true  beauty  and  amiableness  of  the 
holiness,  or  true  moral  good  that  is  in  divine  things,  is  discovered 
to  the  soul,  it  as  it  were  opens  a  new  world  to  its  view.  This 
shows  the  glory  of  all  the  perfections  of  God,  and  of  every  thing 
appertaining  to  the  Divine  Being  :  for,  as  was  observed  before, 
the  beauty  of  all  arises  from  God's  moral  perfection.  This  shows 
the  glory  of  all  God's  works,  both  of  creation  and  providence  : 
for  it  is  the  special  glory  of  them,  that  God's  holiness,  righteous- 
ness, faithfulness,  and  goodness,  are  so  manifested  in  them  :  and 
without  these  moral  perfections  there  would  be  no  glory  in  that 
power  and  skill  with  which  they  are  wrought.  The  glorifying  of 
God's  moral  perfections  is  the  special  end  of  all  the  works  of 
God's  hands.  By  this  sense  of  the  moral  beauty  of  divine  things, 
is  understood  the  sufficiency  of  Ghrist  as  a  mediator  :  for  it  is  only 
by  the  discovery  of  the  beauty  of  the  moral  perfection  of  Christ, 
that  the  believer  is  let  into  the  knowledge  of  the  excellency  of 
his  person,  so  as  to  know  any  thing  more  of  it  than  the  devils  do  : 
and  it  is  only  by  the  knowledge  of  the  excellency  of  Christ's  per- 
son, that  any  know  his  sufficiency  as  a  mediator  ;  for  the  latter  de- 
pends upon,  and  arises  from  the  former.  It  is  by  seeing  the  ex- 
cellency of  Christ's  person,  that  the  saints  are  made  sensible  of 
the  preciousness  of  his  blood,  and  its  sufficiency  to  atone  for  sin  : 
for  therein  consist  the  preciousness  of  Christ's  blood,  that  it  is  the 
blood  of  so  excellent  and  amiable  a  person.  And  on  this  depends 
the  meritoriousness  of  his  obedience,  and  sufficiency  and  prev- 
alence of  his  intercession.  By  this  sight  of  the  moral  beauty  of 
divine  things,  is  seen  the  beauty  of  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ  : 
for  that  consists  in  the  beauty  of  the  moral  perfections  of  God, 
which  wonderfully  shines  forth  in  every  step  of  this  method   of 


lkttervi.]      knowledgk  and  disposition.  425 

salvation,  from  beginning  to  end.     By  this  is  seen  the   fitness  and 
suitabienes  of  this  way  :   for  this  wholly  consists  in  its  tendency  to 
deliver  us  from   sin   and  hell,  and  to  bring  us    to  the  happiness 
which  consists  in  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  moral  good,  in  a 
way  sweetly  agreeing  with  God's  moral  perfections.     And  in  the 
way's  being  contrived  so  as  to  attain  the^e  ends,  consists   the   ex- 
cellent wisdom  of  that  way.     By  this  is  seen  the   excellency    of 
the  word  of  God  :  take  away  all  the  moral  beauty  and  sweetness 
in  the  word,  and  the  Bible  is  left  wholly  a  dead  letter,  a  dry    life- 
less, tasteless  thing.     By  this    is  seen  the  true   foundation   of  our 
duty  ;  the  worthiness  of  God  to  be  so  esteemed,  honoured,  loved, 
submitted  to,  and  served,  as  he  requires  of  us,  and   the   amiable- 
ness  of  the  duties  themselves    that   are  required  of  us.     And  by 
this  is  seen  the  true  evil  of  sin  ;  for  he  who  sees  the  beauty  of  ho- 
liness, must   necessarily   see  the    hatefulness  of  sin,  its  contrary. 
By  this  men  understand  the  true  glory  of  heaven,  which  consists 
in  the  beauty  and  happiness  that  is  in  holiness.     By  this    is  seen 
the   amiableness   and   happiness  of  both  saints   and  angels.     He 
that  sees  the  beauty  of  holiness,  or  true  moral  good,  sees  the  great- 
est and  most  important  thing  in  the   world,  which  is  the  fulness  of 
all  things,  without  which  all  the  world   is    empty,   no  better  than 
nothing,  yea  worse  than  nothing.     Unless  this  is  seen,  nothing  is 
seen  that  is  worth  the  seeing  :  for  there  is  no  other  true  excel- 
lency or  beauty.     Unless  this  be  understood,   nothing    is   under- 
stood  that  is  worthy  of  the  exercise  of  the  noble  faculty  of  un- 
derstanding.    This  is  the  beauty  of  the  godhead,  and  the  divinity 
of  divinity,  (if  I  may  so  speak,)  the  good  of  the   infinite   fountain 
of  good  ;  without  which  God  himself  (if  that  were  possible  to  be) 
would  be  an  infinite  evil,  without  which  we  ourselves  had  better 
never  have  been,  and  without  which  there  had  better  have  been 
no  being.     He,  therefore,  in  elTect  knows  nothing,  that  knows  not 
this.      His  knowledge  is  but  the  shadow  of  knowledge,   or,  as   the 
Apostle  calls  it,  the  form  of  knowledge.     Well,  therefore,  may  the 
scriptures  represent  those  who  are  destitute  of  that  spiritual  sense, 
by  which  is  perceived  the  beauty  of  holiness,  as  totally  blind,  deaf, 
and  senseless  ;  yea,  dead.     And  well  may  regeneration,  in  which 
this  divine  senso  is  given  toth«=f  soul  by  its  cr<»ator,  be  represeoteH 
Vol.  hi  r■>^ 


426  CONNEXION  OF  [Letter  VI, 

as  opening  the  blind  eyes,  and  raising  the  dead,  and  bringing  a  per- 
son into  a  new  world.  For  if  what  has  been  said  be  considered, 
it  will  be  manifest,  that  when  a  person  has  this  sense  and  knowl- 
edge given  him,  he  will  view  nothing  as  he  did  before  ;  though  be- 
fore he  knew  all  things  after  thejlesh,  yet  henceforth  he  will  knoto 
them  so  no  more  ;  and  he  is  become  a  new  treature,  old  things  arc 
passed  aivay,  behold  all  things  are  become  new;  agreeable  to  2 
Cor.  V.  16,  17. 

"  And  besides  the  things  that  have  been  already  mentioned, 
t^ere  arises  from  this  sense  of  spiritual  beauty,  all  true  experi- 
mental knowledge  of  religion  ;  which  is  of  itself,  as  it  were  a 
new  world  of  knowledge.  He  that  sees  not  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness, knows  not  what  one  of  the  graces  of  God's  spirit  is  ;  he  is 
destitute  of  any  idea  or  conception  of  all  gi-acious  exercises  of 
soul,  and  all  holy  comforts  and  delights,  and  all  effects  of  savipg  in- 
fluences of  the  spirit  of  God  on  the  heart :  and  so  is  ignorant  of 
the  greatest  works  of  God,  the  most  important  and  glorious  ef- 
fects of  his  power  upon  the  creature  :  and  also  is  wholly  ignorant 
of  the  saints  as  saints  ;  he  knows  not  what  they  are  :  and  in  ef- 
fect is  ignorant  of  the  whole  spiritual  world. 

"  Things  being  thus,  it  plainly  appears,  that  God's  implanting 
that  spiritual  supernatural  sense  which  has  been  spoken  of, 
makes  a  great  change  in  a  man.  And  were  it  not  for  the  very  im- 
perfect degree,  in  which  this  sense  is  commonly  given  at  first,  01 
the  small  degree  of  this  glorious  light  that  first  dawns  upon  the 
soul  ;  the  change  made  by  this  spiritual  opening  of  the  eyes,  in 
conversion,  would  be  much  greater,  and  more  remarkable,  every 
wnv,  than  if  a  man  who  had  been  born  blind,  and  with  only  the 
other  four  senses,  should  continue  so  a  long  time,  and  then  at  once 
should  have  tiie  sense  of  seeing  imparted  to  him,  in  the  midst  of 
tlie  clear  light  of  the  sun,  discovering  a  world  of  visible  objects. 
For  though  sight  be  more  noble  than  any  of  the  other  external 
senses  ;  yet  this  spiritual  sense  which  has  been  spoken  of,  is  in- 
fmitelv  more  noble  than  that,  or  any  other  principle  of  discern- 
ing that  a  man  naturally  has,  and  the  object  of  this  sense  infinitely 
great  and  more  important. 


Letter  \  I  ]  KNOWLEDGE  AND  DISPOSITION.  437 

This  sort  of  understandinc;,  or  knowledge,  is  that  knowledge  of  di- 
vine things  from  whence  all  truly  gracious  affections  do  proceed : 
by  which,  therefore,  all  affections  are  to  be  tried.  Those  affec- 
tions that  arise  wholly  fronj  any  other  kind  of  knowledge,  or  do 
result  from  any  other  kind  of  apprehensions  of  mind  are  vain  I" 

pp.  225—232. 

1  am  yours,  tkc. 


LETTER   VII. 


\N  IMQUIKY,  WOk.THtR,  IV  BELIEVING  BP.  A  SPIRITUAL  ACT  6r  THV 
MIND,  IT  UOCS  NAT  I'RESUPrOSE  THE  SUBJECT  OF  IT  TO  BE  SPIR- 
ITUAL 


Wy  Dear  Friend, 

Mr.  Sanueman,  and  many  of  his  admirers,  If  I  understand  thenj, 
consider  the  mind  as  passive  in  believing,  arid  charge  those  who 
consider  faith  as  an  act  of  the  mind  with  making  it  a  work  and  so  of 
introducing  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  a  work  of  our  own. 

Mr.  Ecking  sometimes  writes  as  if  he  adopted  this  principle,  for 
lie  speaks  of  a  person  being  "  passive  in  receiving  the  truth."* 
In  another  place,  however,  he  is  very  explicit  to  the  contrary 
"Their  notion  is  absurd,"  he  says,  "who,  in  order  to  appear 
more  than  ordinarily  accurate,  censure  and  solemnly  condemn  tht 
idea  of  believing  being  an  act  of  the  mind.  It  is  acknowledged, 
indeed,  that  very  unscriptural  sentiments  have  prevailed  about 
acts  of  faith,  when  they  are  supposed  to  arise  from  some  previous 
principle  well  disposing  the  minds  of  unbelievers  toward  the  gos 
pel.  Yet  if  it  be  admitted  possible  for  the  soul  of  man  to  act. 
(and  who  will  deny  that  it  does  ?)  there  is  nothing  more  properK 
an  act  of  the  mind  than  believing  a  truth  ;  in  which  first  the  mind 
perceives  it;  then  considers  the  evidence  offered  to  support  it  ; 
and  finally,  gives  assent  to  it.  And  can  this  comport  with  inactiv- 
ity ?  We  must  either  say,  then,  that  the  soul  acts  in  believing  the 
ijospel,  or  that  the  soul  is  an  inactive  spirit,  which  is  absurd."! 

♦Eesays,  p.  73.  +Ibid,p.  fl8. 


430  RHGENERATION  [Letter  VII. 

As  Mr.  E.  in  this  passage,  not  only  states  his  opinion,  but  gives  his 
reasons  for  it,  we  must  consider  this  as  his  fixed  principle  ;  and 
that  which  he  says  of  the  truth  being  "  passively  received," 
As  expressive,  not  of  faith,  but  of  spiritual  illumination  previously 
to  it.  But  if  so,  what  does  he  mean  by  opposing  a  previous  prin- 
ciple as  necesssary  to  believing  ?  His  acts  of  faith  arise  from  spir- 
itual illumination,  which  he  also  must  consider  as  *'  well  disposing 
the  minds  of  unbelievers  toward  the  gospel." 

If  there  be  any  difference  between  him  and  those  whom  he  op- 
poses, it  would  seem  to  consist,  not  in  the  necessity,  but  in  the  na- 
ture of  a  previous  change  of  mind  ;  as  whether  it  be  proper  to 
call  it  a  principle,  and  to  suppose  it  to  include  life  as  well  as  light. 
He  no  more  considers  the  mind  as  discerning  and  believing  the 
gospel  without  a  previous  change  wrought  in  it  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  than  his  opponents.  Nay,  as  we  have  seen,  he  expressly, 
and,  as  be  says,  "  readily  acknowledges  that  we  must  have  a  spir- 
itual principle  before  vve  can  discern  divine  beauties."  (p.  67.) 
But  if  a  spiritual  principle  be  necessary  to  discern  divine  beau- 
ties, it  is  necessary  to  discern  and  believe  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
face  of  .Tesus  Christ,  for  they  are  one  and  the  same  thing. 

But  the  previous  change  which  Mr.  E.  acknowledges,  it  will  be 
said,  is  by  means  of  the  word.  Be  it  so,  yet  it  cannot  be  by  the 
word  as  spiritually  discerned  and  believed,  for  spiritual  discernment 
and  belief  are  supposed  to  be  the  effect  of  it. 

Mr.  E.  says  indeed,  that  "the  hinge  upon  which  the  inquiry 
turns  is,  what  is  that  principle,  and  how  is  it  i.Tiplanted  ?"  But 
this  is  mere  evasion  :  for  let  the  principle  be  what  it  may,  and  let 
it  be  implanted  how  it  may,  since  it  is  allowed  to  be  necessary 
*'  before  we  can  discern  divine  beauties,"  and  of  course  before  we 
can  actively  believe  in  Christ,  the  argument  is  given  up. 

The  principle  itself  he  makes  to  be  "  the  word  passively  re- 
ceived :"  but  as  this  is  supposed  to  be  previously  to  "  the  dis- 
cernment of  divine  beauties,"  and  to  the  soul's  actively  believing 
in  Christ,  it  cannot  of  course  have  been  produced  by  either  :  and 
to  speak  of  the  word  becoming  a  spiritual  principle  in  us  before  it 
JiS  either  understood  or  believed,  is  going  a  step  beyond  his  oppo- 
nents.    I  have  no  doubt  that  the  word  of  God,  when  it  is  once  un- 


Letter  VII.]  NECESSARY  TU  BELIEVING.  43I 

derstood  and  believed,  becomes  a  living  principle  of  evangelical 
obedience.  This  I  conceive  tu  be  the  meaning  of  our  Lord,  when 
he  lold  the  woman  of  Samaria,  tlial  "whosoever  should  drink  oi 
the  water  that  he  should  i^ive  him,  (that  is  of  the  gospel,)  it  should 
be  in  him  a  well  of  water  spriii<:;ing  up  to  everlastini;  lift^."  But 
for  the  word  to  become  a  principle  before  it  is  actively  received, 
or,  to  use  the  language  of  Peter,  before  we  have  "  purified  oui 
souls  by  obeying  it,"  is  that  of  which  I  can  form  no  idea,  and  ' 
suppose  neither  did  Mr.  Ecking. 

As  to  the  second  part  of  what  he  calls  the  hinge  of  the  inquiry, 
viz.  hoiv  this  principle  is  implanted  ?  he  endeavours  to  illustrate  it 
by  a  number  of  examples  taken  from  the  miracles  of  Christ,  in 
which  the  word  of  Christ  certainly  did  not  operate  on  the  mind  in 
a  way  of  motive  presented  to  its  consideration  ;  but  in  a  way  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  Creator,  when  he  said.  Let  there  be  light,  and 
there  was  light.  .Such  is  manifestly  the  idea  conveyed  by  the 
words  in  John  v.  25.  The  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  they  that  hear  shall  live.  To  such  an  application  of  the 
word  I  have  no  objection.  That  for  which  1  contend  is,  that 
there  is  a  change  effected  in  the  soul  of  a  sinner,  called  in  scrip- 
ture "giving  him  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear,  and  a  heart  to  under- 
stand"— "  a  new  heart,  and  a  right  spirit" — "  a  new  creation," — 
&.C.  &c. — that  this  change  is  antecedent  to  his  actively  believing  in 
Christ  for  salvation  ;  and  that  it  is  not  effected  by  motives  address- 
ed to  the  mind  in  a  way  of  moral  suasion,  but  by  the  mighty  pow- 
er of  God, 

Mr.  M'Lcan  allows  faith  to  be  a  duty,  or  an  act  of  obedience. 
But  if  so,  this  obedience  must  be  yielded  either  in  a  spiritual  or 
in  a  carnal  state.  If  the  former,  it  is  all  that  on  this  subject  i? 
pleaded  for.  If  the  latter,  that  is  the  same  thing  as  supposing  that 
the  carnal  mind,  while  such,  is  enabled  to  act  spiritually,  and  that 
it  thereby  becomes  spiritual. 

To  this  purpose  I  wrote  in  my  Appendix,  pp.  204,  205  ;  ano 
what  has  Mr.  M'Lean  said  in  reply  ?  Let  him  answer  for  himself. 
♦'This  is  a  very  unfair  state  of  the  question  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
the  opinion  of  his  opponents,  for  he  represents  them  as  inaintaiD- 
ing  that  the  Holy  Spirit  causes  the  miad  while  carnal,  or  before  if 


432  REGExNERATION  [Letter  VH. 

is  spiritually  illuminated,  to  discern  and  believe  spiritual  things; 
and  then  he  sets  himself  to  argue  against  this  contradiction  of  his 
own  framing,  as  a  thing  impossible  in  its  own  nature,  and  as  declar- 
ing by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  be  so.  1  Cor.  ii.  14.  Were  1  to  state 
Mr.  F's  sentiment  thus,  '  The  Holy  Spirit  imparts  to  the  mind 
while  carnal  a  holy  susceptibility  and  relish  for  the  truth,'  would 
he  not  justly  complain  that  I  had  misrepresented  his  view,  and 
that  he  did  not  meai)  that  the  mind  could  possess  any  holy  suscep- 
tibility while  it  W;^s  in  a  carnal  state  ;  but  only  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  by  the  verV  act  of  imparting  this  holy  susceptibility  and 
relish  for  the  triith,  removed  the  carnality  of  the  mind.  But  then 
this  explanation  applies  equally  to  the  other  side  of  the  question  ; 
and  surely  it  appears  at  least  as  consistent  with  the  nature  of 
things,  and  as  easy  to  conceive,  that  the  Holy  spirit  should  in  the 
first  instance  communicate  the  light  of  truth  to  a  dark  carnal  mind, 
and  thereby  render  it  spiritual,  as  that  he  should  prior  to  that  im 
part  to  it  a  holy  susceptibility  and  relish  for  the  truth."* 

Now,  my  friend,  I  intreat  your  close  attention,  and  that  of  the 
reader,  to  this  part  of  the  subject ;  for  here  is  the  hinge  of  the 
present  question. 

I  am  accused  of  framing  a  contradiction  which  my  opponents 
do  not  hold.  They  do  not  hold  then,  it  seems,  that  the  Holy  Spir- 
it causes  the  mind  Tjchilc  carnal  to  discern  and  believe  spiritual 
things.  Spiritual  illumination  precedes  believing  ;  such  an  illu- 
mination too,  as  removes  carnality  from  the  mind,  renders  the 
soul  spiritual,  and  so  enables  it  to  discern  and  believe  spiritual 
things.  VVhere  then  is  the  difference  between  us  ?  Surely  it  does 
aot  consist  in  my  holding  with  a  previous  principle  as  necessary 
io  believing,  for  they  profess  to  hold  what  amounts  to  the  same 
ihicg.  If  there  be  any  difference  however,  it  must  lie  in  the 
nature  of  that  which  is  communicated,  or  in  the  order  in  which 
it  operates.  And,  as  to  the  first,  seeing  it  is  allowed  to  remove 
carnality,  and  to  render  the  soul  spiritual,  there  can  he  no  ma- 
terial difference  on  this  head.  Witli  respect  to  the  second,  name- 
ly, the  order  of  its  operations,  Mr.  M.  thinks  that  the  communica- 
tion of  the  light  of  truth  to  a  dark,  carnal  mind,  whereby  it  is  ren- 

•Reply,  p.  7. 


Lkttkr  VII.]  NECES3ARY  TO  BELIEVING.  433 

Jered  spiritual,  furnishes  an  easy  and  constant  view  of  things.  To 
which  1  answer,  If  the  carnality  of  the  mind  were  owing  to  its 
darkness,  it  would  be  so.  But  Mr.  M.  hss  him*elf  told  us  a  dif- 
ferent tale,  and  that  from  unquestionable  authority.  "  Our  Lord," 
he  says,  "  asks  the  Jews,  MVti/  do  ye  not  understand  my  speech? 
and  gives  this  reason  for  it,  even  because  ije  cannot  hear  my  word  ; 
that  is,  cannot  endure  my  doctrine."     \Vorks,  \'ol.  II.  p.  110. 

Now,  if  this  be  just,  (and  who  can  controvert  it  ?)  it  is  not  easy 
to  conceive  how  lii^ht  introduced  into  tiie  mind  should  be  capable 
of  removing  carnality.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  of  the  removal 
of  an  effect  by  the  removal  of  the  cause,  but  not  of  the  removal  of 
a  cause  by  the  removal  of  the  effect. 

But,  whatever  difference  may  remain  as  to  the  order  of  opera- 
tion, the  idea  of  a /^reyjou*  principle  is  held  by  Mr.  M.  as  much  as 
by  his  opponent.  Only  call  it  "  divmc  illumination,  by  which 
the  dark  and  carnal  mind  is  rendered  spiritual,"  and  he  believes 
it. 

In  endeavouring  to  show  the  unfairness  of  the  contradiction 
which  I  alleged  against  him,  Mr.  M.  loses  himself  and  his  reader, 
by  representing  it  as  made  to  the  act  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  impart- 
ing spiritual  light  to  the  soul  while  carnal,  whereas  that  which  I 
alleged  against  him  respected  the  act  of  the  creature  in  discerning 
and  believing  spiritual  things  while  such.  If  God's  communica- 
ting either  light  or  holiness  to  a  dark  and  carnal  mind  be  a  con- 
tradiction, it  is  of  Mr.  M's  framing,  and  not  mine  :  but  I  see  no 
contradiction  in  it,  so  that  it  be  in  the  natural  order  of  things,  any 
more  than  in  his  "  quickening  us  when  we  were  dead  in  trespass- 
es and  sins,"  which  phraseology  certaiidy  docs  not  denote  that  we 
are  dead  and  alive  at  the  same  time  !  The  contradiction  alleged 
consisted  in  the  carnal  ntind^"  being  supposed  to  act  spiritualhj . 
and  not  to  its  being  acted  upon  by  divine  influence,  let  that  in- 
fluence be  what  it  might.  It  would  be  no  contradiction  to  say  of 
Tabilha,  that  life  was  imparted  to  her  while  dead :  but  it  would  be 
contradiction  to  affirm  that  while  she  was  dead  God  caused  her  to 
open  her  eyes,  and  to  look  upon  Peter  I 

Mr.  M'Lean  has,  I  allow,  cleared  himself  of  this  contradiction, 
by  admitting  the  sinner  to  be  made  spiritual  through  divine  illu- 

V'oL.  ill.  r»5 


434  REGENEllATION  ILettjlr  Vll. 

m'lnaiiou,  prcvioualt/  to  his  believing  in  Christ  ;  but  then  it  is  at  the 
expense  of  the  grand  article  in  dispute,  which  he  has  thereby 
given  up  ;  maintaining,  as  much  as  his  opponent,  the  idea  of  a  pre- 
vious principle,  or  of  the  soul's  being  rendered  spiritual  antece- 
dently to  its  believing  in  Christ. 

The  principal  ground  on  which  Mr.  M'Lean,  Mr.  Ecking,  and 
all  the  writers  on  that  side  the  question,  rests  their  cause  is,  the 
use  of  such  language  as  the  following  :  Being  born  again,  not  of 
corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God, 
which  liveth  and  abideth  for  ever. —  Of  his  oion  will  begat  he  us, 
with  the  word  of  truth. — /  have  begotten  you  through  the 

GOSI'EL. 

On  this  phraseology,  I  shall  submit  to  you  and  the  reader  two 
or  three  observations: — 

First:  A  being  begotten,  or  born  again  by  the  word,  does  not 
necessarily  signify  a  being  regenerated  by  faith  in  the  word. 
Faith  itself  is  ascribed  to  the  word  as  well  as  regeneration  :  for 
faith  Cometh  by  hearing,  ami  hearing  by  the  word  of  God :  but  if  we 
say  faith  cometh  by  the  word  believed,  that  is  the  same  as  saying 
that  it  cometh  by  itself.  Mr.  M.  has  no  idea  of  the  word  having 
any  influence  but  as  it  is  believed  :*yet  he  tells  us  that  faith  is  "the 
effect  of  the  regenerating  influence  of  the  Spirit  and  word  of  God. "f 
But  if  faith  be  the  effect  ofthe  word  believed,  it  must  be  the  effect 
of  itself.  The  truth  is,  the  word  may  operate  as  an  inducement  to 
believe,  as  well  as  a  stimilus  to  a  new  life  when  it  is  believed. 

Secondly  :  The  terms,  regeneration,  begotten,  born  again,  &c 
are  not  always  used  in  the  same  extent  of  meaning.  They  some- 
times denote  the  whole  of  that  change  which  denominates  us  Chris- 
tians, and  which  of  course  includes  repentance  toward  God,  and 
faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  in  this  sense  the  foregoing 
passages  are  easily  understood.  But  the  question  is,  whether  regen. 
eration,  or  those  terms  by  which  it  is  expressed  in  the  scriptures, 
such  as  being  begotten,  born  again,  quickened,  &c.  be  not  some- 
times  used  in  the  strictest  sense.  Mr.  M.  confining  what  I  hadsaid 
on  the  subject  of  regeneration  as  expressed  by  being  begot- 
ten, born  again,  &-c.  to  the  term  itself,  is  "  confident  it  bears  no  such 

*  Reply,  pp.  16—34.  t  Ibid  p.  113. 


LiniKR  VII.]  NECESSARY  TO  BELIEVING.  1,3.5 

meaning  ii>  the  sacreil  writings."  (p.  17.)  But  if  a  being  born 
;»gnin,  which  is  expressive  of  regeneration,  be  sometimes  used  to 
accottnt  fur  faith,  as  a  cause  for  its  effect,  that  is  all  which  the  ar- 
gument requires  to  be  established.  If  it  be  necesssai}'  to  be  born 
again  in  order  to  believing,  wo  cannot  in  this  sense,  unless  the  et- 
fect  could  be  the  means  of  producing  the  cause,  be  born  again  by 
believing.  Whether  this  be  the  case,  let  the  following  passages 
determine. 

John  i.  1 1 — 1'5. — He  came  unto  his  oirn,  and  his  own  rrce.ivcd  him 
not.  But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  be- 
come the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name  :  which 
were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  trill  of  the  flesh,  nor  cf  the  will 
of  man,  bat  of  God.  I  can  conceive  of  no  reason  why  the  new 
birth  is  here  introduced  but  to  account  for  some  receiving  Christy 
or  believing  on  his  name,  while  others  received  him  not.  Calvin 
appears  to  have  ordinarily  considered  regeneration  in  the  large 
sense  as  stated  above  and  therefore  speaks  of  it  as  an  effect  ot 
faith.  Yet,  when  commenting  on  this  passage,  perceiving  that  it  is 
here  introduced  to  account  for  faith,  he  writes  thus  :  *'  Hereupon 
it  followeth,  first,  that  faith  proceedeth  not  from  us,  but  that  it  is  a 
fruit  of  spiritual  regeneration;  for  the  evangelist  saith  (in  effect)  that 
no  man  can  believe  unless  he  be  begotten  of  God  ;  therefore  faith 
is  an  heavenly  gift.  Secondly  :  That  faith  is  not  a  cold  and  bare 
knowledge:  seeing  none  cati  believe  but  that  he  is  fashioned  again 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Notwithstanding,  it  seemeth  that  the  Evan- 
gelist dealeth  rf/sorrfer/y  in  putting  regeneration  before 'faith,  seeing 
that  it  is  rather  an  effect  o(  faith,  and  therefore  to  be  set  after  it." 
To  this  objection  he  answers,  that  "  both  may  very  well  agree," 
and  goes  on  to  expound  the  subject  of  regeneration  as  sometimes 
denotingthe  producing  of  faith  itself,  and  sometimes  of  a  new  life 
by  faith. 

John  iii.  3. — Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  sec  the 
kingdom  of  God.  On  this  p.-i«sage,  Ur.  Campbell,  in  his  notes,  is 
very  particular,  proving  that  by  the  kingdom  or  reign  of  God,  is 
meant  that  Messiah  in  this  world  ;  and  that  &u  iuvarai  {cannot)  de- 
notes the  incapacity  of  the  unregenerate  to  discern  and  believe 
the  gospel.      The   import  of  this  pa<;sage  is,  in  his  apprehension, 


436  REGENERATION  [Letteb  Vll. 

this — ''  The  man  who  is  not  regenerated,  or  born  again  of  water  and 
Spirit,  is  not  in  a  capacity  of  perceiving  the  reign  of  God,  though  it 
were  commenced.  Though  the  kingdom  of  the  saints  on  the 
earth  were  already  established,  the  unregenerate  would  not  dis- 
cern it,  because  it  is  a  spiritual,  not  a  worldly  kingdom,  and  capa. 
ble  of  being  no  otherwise  than  spiritually  discerned.  And,  as  the 
kingdom  itself  would  remain  unknown  to  him,  he  could  not  share 
in  the  blessings  enjoyed  by  the  subjects  of  it. — The  same  senti- 
ment occurs  in  1  Cor.  ii.  14." 

1  Cor.  ii.  14. — The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God :  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him  ;  neither  can  he 
know  them,  because  they  are  spritually  discerned.  Mr.  JI.  in  his 
Discourses  on  the  Parable  of  the  Sower,  says,  ''  It  is  a  doctrine 
clearly  taucht  m  the  scriptures,  that  none  have  a  true  understand- 
ing of  the  fjospel  but  such  as  are  taught  of  God  by  the  speoia!  illu- 
minating influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  are  expressly  told 
that  The  natural  ma7i  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God: 
for  they  are  foj/tshness  unto  him ;  neither  can  he  know  them  be- 
cause they  are  spiritually  discerned.  And  iu  ansv/ering  an  objec- 
tor, who  asks,  "  Tvlia'  particular  truth  or  sentiment  is  communi- 
cated to  the  iui'.hl  by  the  enlightening  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  which  unenlightened  men  can  have  no  idea  of?"  Mr.  M.  says 
"  It  is  not  pleaded  that  any  truth  or  sentiment  is  communica- 
ted to  the  mind  by  the  Spirit  besides  what  is  already  clearly  reveal- 
cd  in  the  word;  and  the  illumination  of  the  Spirit  is  to  make  men 

PERCEIVE  AND  UNDF.RSTAND  THAT  REVELATION  WHICH    IS    ALREADY 
GIVEN    IN    ITS    TRUE    LIGHT."* 

Mr.  M.'s  object  ihrough  this  whole  paragraph,  seems  to  be  to 
prove  that  the  illuminating  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  necessar?/ 
in  order  to  our  understanding  the  scriptures  ;  but  if  so,  it  cannot  be 
by  the  scriptures  as  understood  that  we  are  thus  illuminated,  for 
this  were  a  contradiction.  It  cannot  be  by  any  particular  truth  or 
sentiment,  revealed  anj'  more  than  unrevealed,  that  we  possess 
"  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear,  or  a  heart  to  understand"  it.  If  the 
illuminating  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  consisted  in  imparting  any 

*■  Sermons,  pp.  78.  80,  ?,\, 


Letter  VH.]  NECESSARY  TO  RKLIEVING.  4«^7 

particular  truth  or  sentiment  to  tlie  miiul,  even  that  which  is  re- 
vealed in  the  scriptuies,  where  would  be  the  mystery  of  the  ope- 
eration  ?  Instead  of  beiug  compared  to  the  operations  of  th« 
wind,  of  ivhirh  we  hi:  no  nothing  but  by  its  effects,*  it  might  have 
been  ranked  among  tlie  operations  of  motives  as  suggested  bv  man 
to  man,  or  at  least,  as  put  into  tht*  mind  by  the  providence  of  GoJ 
so  ordering  it  that  such  thoughts  should  strike  and  influence  the 
mind  at  the  tirne.l  But  this  would  not  answer  to  the  scriptural 
accounts  of  our  being  quickened  who  were  dead  in  sins,  by  the 
potter  of  God  ;  even  by  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power,  ac- 
cording to  that  which  he  wrought  in  Christ  when  he  raised  him  from 
the  dead. 

Mr.  M.  has  taken  great  pains  to  show  the  absurdity  of  my  reas- 
oning on  this  subject;  yet  the  sum  of  it  is  this,  That  which  is  ne- 
cessary in  order  to  understanding  and  believing  the  word,  cannot 
he  by  means  nf  understanding  and  believing  it. 

All  true  knowledge  of  divine  things  is,  no  doubt  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  word  as  the  objective  cause,  the  same  way  as  corporeal  per- 
ception is  ascribed  to  light.  We  cannot  see  without  light  ;  nei- 
ther can  we  understand  or  believe  spiritual  things  but  by  the 
word  of  God.  But  the  question  does  not  relate  to  what  is  objec- 
tive, but  subjective  ;  or,  if  I  might  speak  in  reference  to  what  is 
corporeal,  not  to  light,  but  discernment.  Mr.  Ecking  speaks  of 
light  shining  into  a  dark  room,  and  of  the  absurdity  of  supposing 
there  must  be  some  principles  of  light  in  this  room  which  disposed 
it  to  receive  that  which  shone  into  it.  (p.  GO.)  But  if  by  the  light 
he  mean  the  gospel,  he  should  rather  have  compared  it  to  light 
shining  upon  a  blind  man,  and  have  shown  the  absurdity,  if  he 
could,  of  supposing  it  necessary  for  his  eyes  to  be  opened  ere  he 
could  discern  or  enjoy  it.  There  is  nothing  in  a  dark  room  to  re- 
sist the  light,  but  that  is  not  the  case  with  the  dark  soul  of  a 
sinner.  The  light  shineth  in  darkness,  but  the  darkness  comprehen- 
deth  Tor,  as  Campbell  renders  it,  admitteth)  it  not. 

*  Such  is  the  meaniDg;  of  John  iii.  8.  according  (o  Campbell,  aoJ  all  other 
expofitor?  that  I  hare  seen. 

1  Kira  vii.  ?7. 


438  llEGENERATION  [Letter  VII. 

Though  I  cannot  think  with  Mr.  E.  that  the  word  of  God  be- 
•;omes  a  spiritual  principle  in  us  till  it  is  actively  received,  yet  I  al- 
low that  it  is  productive  of  great  effects.  The  understanding  and 
conscience  being  enlightened  by  it,  many  open  sins  are  forsaken, 
and  many  things  done  in  a  way  of  what  is  called  religious  duty. 
And  though  1  have  no  notionof  directing  sinners  to  a  course  of  pre- 
vious humiliation,  nor  opinion  of  the  efforts  of  man  toward  prepar- 
ing himself  for  the  reception  of  divine  grace;  yet  I  believe  God 
ordinarily  os  deals  with  men  as  gradually  to  beat  down  their  false 
confidences,  and  reduce  them  to  extremity  ere  they  are  brought  to 
embrace  the  gospel.  Such  things  are  not  necessarily  connected 
with  faith  or  salvation.  In  many  instances  they  have  their  issue 
in  mere  self  righteous  hope  :  and  where  it  is  otherwise,  they  are 
to  faith  and  salvation,  as  I  have  said  before,  but  as  the  noise,  and 
the  shaking  of  the  dry  bones,  to  the  breath  of  life. 

Moreover,  the  word  of  Godp  reduces  still  greater  and  betteref- 
fects  ichen  it  is  believed.  In  them  that  believe  "  it  worketh  effec- 
tually." When  the  commandment  comes  to  a  soul  in  its  spiritual- 
ity, it  gives  him  to  percieve  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin  ;  and 
when  the  go?psl  comes,  not  in  word  only,  but  in  power,  it  produ- 
ces mighty  effects.  It  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every 
one  that  believeth.  It  operated  before,  to  the  "  pulling  down  of 
strongholds,"  and  the  casting  down  of  many  a  vain  "  imagina- 
tion ;"  but  now  it  "  bringeth  every  thought  into  subjection  to  the 
obetHence  of  Christ."  It  is  thus  that  we  "  know  the  truth,  and 
the  truth  (as  known)  makes  us  free."  If  once  we  are  enabled  to 
behold  the  glory  of  God  in  the  Aice  of  .Tesus  Christ,  it  changes  us 
into  the  same  image,  begets  and  excites  holy  affections,  and  produ- 
ces every  kind  of  gracious  exercise. 

The  gospel  is  the  mould  in  which  the  mind  of  the  believer  is 
cast,  and  by  which  it  is  formed.  The  statement  of  Dr.  Owen,  as 
quoted  by  Mr.  Ecking  is  very  just  and  scriptural.  "  As  the  word 
is  in  the  gospel,  so  is  grace  in  the  heart  ;  yea,  they  are  the  same 
things  variously  expressed.  Rom.  vi.  17.  As  our  translation 
doth  not,  so  I  know  not  how,  in  so  few  words  to  express  that  which 
is  so  emphatically  here  insinuated  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  mean- 
ing is,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel  begets  the  form,  figure,  in- 


[Lftter  Vil.  NECESSARY  TO  DELIEVING.  439 

agCs  or  likeness  of  itself  in  the  liearlH  of  tliem  that  beheve:  so  they 
are  cast  into  the  mould  oiii.  As  is  the  one,  so  is  the  other.  The 
principle  of  grace  in  the  heart,  and  that  in  the  word,  are  as  chil- 
dren of  the  same  parent,  completely  resembling  and  representing 
one  another.  Grace  is  a  living  word,  and  the  word  is  a  Hgurcd 
limned  grace.  As  we  have  heard,  so  have  we  seen  and  found  it: 
such  a  soul  can  produce  the  duplicate  of  the  word,  and  so  adjust 
all  things  thereby,"  &c.* 

All  this  describes  the  elTect  of  the  word  on  those  who  believe  it: 
but  the  (pieslion  is,  how  we  come  to  believe  it  ?  Dr.  Owen  has 
elsewhere  attempted  to  solve  this  difficulty,  by  proving  that  a  prin- 
ciple of  spiritual  life  is  communicated  to  the  sinner  in  regeneration, 
antecedently  to  believing.  I  He  doubtless  considered  these  things  as 
consistent  with  each  other  ;  and  though  Mr.  Ecking,  in  making  the 
quotation,  appears  to  consider  them  as  contradictory,  yet  while  he 
admits  that  "  we  must  have  a  spiritual  principle  before  we  can  dis- 
cern beauties,"  the  same  contradiction,  if  such  it  be,  attaches  to 
liimstlf. 

1  allow,  with  Dr.  Owen,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  makes  use  of  "the 
reasons,  motives,  and  persuasive  arguments  which  the  word  affords, 
to  affect  the  mind  ;  and  that  converted  persons  are  able  to  give 
some  account  of  the  considerations  whereby  they  were  prevailed 
upon."  But  I  also  think,  with  him,  that  "  the  whole  work  of  the 
Spirit  in  our  conver.-ion  does  not  consist  herein  ;  but  that  there 
is  a  real  physical  work  whereby  he  imparts  t^piritual  life  to  the 
souls  of  all  who  are  truly  regenerated. ";[ 

Mr.  M'Lcan  rejects  the  idea  oiphi/sical  influence,  and  seems  to 
oontbund  it  with  something  corporeal,  or  mechanical. §  If  I  un- 
derstand the  ieTvnpJii/sical,  with  respect  to  influence,  it  is  opposed 
to  moral.  That  influence  is  denominated  moral  that  works  upon 
the  mind  by  motives,  or  considerations  which  induce  it  to  this  or 
that;  and  all  beyond  this  is  physical  and  supernatural.     When 

-  On  Psalm  130,  pp.  168—170  :  in  Kcking's  Essays,  pp.77— 7?). 

t  Discourses  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  Book  III.  Ch;ip.  1. 

t  Ibid.  Chap  j.  Sect.  18.  tWorks,  p.  8-1 


440  REGENERATION  t^-ETTER  VII. 

God  created  the  soul  of  man,  originally,  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness,  I  suppose  it  must  be  allowed  to  have  been  a  physical 
work.  Man  certainly  was  not  induced  by  motives  to  be  righteous 
any  more  than  to  be  rational  :  yet  there  was  nothing  corporeal  or 
mechanical  in  it.  It  is  thus  that  I  understand  Dr.  Owen,  in  the 
passage  just  quoted,  in  which,  while  he  admits  of  the  use  of  moral 
suasion,  he  denies  that  the  whole  work  of  conversion  consists  in 
it ;  and  I  should  think  Mr.  M.  could  not,  even  upon  his  own  prin- 
ciples, maintain  the  contrary.  For  whatever  motives  or  consider- 
ations the  word  of  God  may  furnish  in  a  way  of  moral  suasion,  yet 
he  holds  with  the  necessity  of  a  divine  supernatural  influence  be- 
ing superadded  to  it,  by  which  the  mind  is  illuminated  and  render- 
ed spiritual.  But,  if  divine  influence  consists  in  any  thing  distinct 
from  the  influence  of  the  word,  it  must  be  supernatural  and  physi- 
cal. The  party  is  also  equally  unconscious  of  it  on  his  principles 
as  on  mine  :  he  is  conscious  of  nothing  but  its  effects.  He  finds 
himself  the  subject  of  new  views  and  sensations  ;  but  as  to  know- 
ing whence  they  came,  it  is  likely  he  thinks  nothing  of  it  at  the 
time,  and  is  ready  to  imagine  that  any  person,  if  he  would  but  look 
into  the  Bible,  must  see  what  he  sees  so  plainly  taught  in  it.  He 
may  be  conscious  of  'ideas  suggestrid  to  him  by  the  word,  and 
of  their  efi'ect  upon  his  mind;  but  as  to  any  divine  influence  ac- 
companying them,  he  knov»'s  nothing  of  it. 

Mr.  Ecking  represents  "the  inability,  or  spiritual  death  of  sin- 
ners as  consisting  in  disinclination,  or  loving  darkness  rather  than 
light."  And  this  disinclination  he  ascribes  to  ignorance  and  unbe- 
lief; from  whence  he  argues,  "  If  the  removal  of  the  effect  is  by 
removing  the  cause,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  is  the  way 
in  which  God  works  upon  the  human  mind."  (p.  QQ.^  That  the 
removal  of  the  effect  is  by  the  removal  of  the  cause,  I  allow;  but 
what  authority  had  Mr.  E.  for  making  ignorance  and  unbelief  the 
cause  of  spiritual  death.  Spiritual  death  consists  in  ignorance  and 
unbelief,  no  less  than  in  disinclination.  It  consists  in  sin;*  and  if 
ignorance  and  unbelief  are  sins,  they  are  of  the  essence  of  spirit- 
ual death.     It  is  true  they  are  productive  of  other  sins,  and  may 

*  Ephes.  ii,  1. 


Letter  VII. J  NECF.SSAIIV  TO  REt.IF.VINC.  .^,^^ 

be  consiilered  :is  growini,'  ne.ir  to  the  root  ol' moral  evil :  hut,  un- 
less a  thing  ran  be  the  raiise  of  itself,  [\wy  ;ire  not  the  caii^e  oi' all 
evil.  Before  we  ascribe  spiritual  death  to  ii,'tiorance,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  in(|iiire  whether  this  ii,'Morance  be  vohiiilary,  or  involun- 
tary ?  If  invnliinlanj,  it  i<  in  itsc-lf  nnle-^s  ;  and  to  repre'-ent  this 
as  the  cau^e  of  depravity  is  to  join  with  f.'o<!uin,  in  explaining 
away  all  innate  principles  of  evil,  and,  indeed,  all  moral  evil  and 
aocountabieiicss  from  among  men.  \( rnhnitary,  the  solution  does 
not  reach  the  bottom  of  the  subject ;  foi  tiu*  question  slill  returns, 
what  is  the  e:Hi«e  of  vobint  iriuos-  of  i<:nor,uice,  or  of  the  sinner's 
loving  darkness  rather  than  light  ?  Is  this  also  to  be  ascribed  to  iuno- 
raiire  ?  If  >;o,  (he  same  consequence  follows  as  before,  that  there 
IS  no  such  thiny;  as  moral  evil  or  accountableness  among  men. 

Mr.  M'Lean  has  stated  this  subject  much  clearer  than  Mr.  Eck- 
111-.  He  may  elsewhere  have  written  in  a  dirterent  strain,  but  in 
the  last  edition  of  his  Diss.'rfallon  un  the  Influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  he  attributes  ii,morance  and  unbelief  to  hatred,  and  not  ha- 
tred to  ignorance  and  unbelief.  "  Our  Lord,"  he  says,  "  asks  the 
-Jews,  jrhj/  do  ye  not  understand  my  speech  ?  And  gives  this  rea- 
son for  it,  even  because  ye  cannot  hear  my  word— ih-.it  is,  caimot 
endure  my  doctrine.  Their  love  of  worldly  honour,  and  the  ap- 
plause of  men  is  given  as  a  reason  why  they  could  not  believe  in 
liim.  John  V.  44.  Me  traces  their  unbelief  into  their  hatheo 
both  of  him  and  his  Father.     .John  xv.  22.  21.'"* 

Nothing  is  more  evident  than  that  the  cause  of  spiiitual  Mind- 
uess  is,  in  the  scriptures,  ascribed  to  disposition.  Light  is  come 
into  the  world;  but  men  lo;  k  darkness  rather  than  light,  because 
their  deeds  are  evil.— They  say  unto  Ciod,  depart  from  us,  for  ice 
DESIRE  NOT  the  knowledge  nf  thy  ways.— Being  alienated  from  the 
life  of  God,  through  the  ignorance  that  is  in  them,  recacse  of  the 
BX-iNDNF.ss  (hardness,  or  callousness,)  of  theiu  nr.ARr. —  IFhu 
do  ye  not  understand  my  speech  ?  even  because  ye  cannot  hear  my 
word.  But  if,  as  the  scriptures  teach,  the  cause  of  both  ignorance 
and  unbelief  is  to  be  traced  to  hatred,  (as  Mr.  M'Lean  acknowl- 
edges ;)  and  if,  as  Mr.  Ecking  says,  "  eiTe(  (s  are  removed  bv  the 

*   Works,  Vol.  II.  p.  110. 
Vol.  111.  5G 


442  REGENERATION,  &c.  [Letter  VIT. 

removal  of  the  cause,"  T  scarcely  need  to  draw  the  consequence — 
that  though  in  a  general  sense  it  be  true  that  we  are  regenerated 
hy  believing  the  gospel,  yet  in  a  more  particular  sense  it  is  equally 
true  that  we  are  regenerated  in  order  to  it. 

It  is  somewhat  extraordinary  that  Mr.  M'Lean,  after  allowing 
pride  and  aversion  to  be  the  great  obstructions  to  faith,  should  yet 
deny  the  removal  of  them  to  be  necessary  to  it.  He  will  allow 
some  sort  of  conviction  of  sin  to  be  necessary  to  believing  in 
Christ;  but  nothing  that  includes  tne  removal  of  enmity,  of  pride, 
for  this  were  equal  to  allowing  repentance  to  be  necessary  to  it ; 
but  if  enmity  and  pride  be  not  removed,  how  can  the  sinner,  ac- 
cording to  our  Lord's  reasoning  in  John  viii.  43.  v.  44,  understand 
or  believe  the  gospel  ?  If  there  be  any  meaning  in  words,  it  is 
supposed  by  this  language,  that,  in  order  to  understand  and  believe 
the  gospel,  it  is  necessary  to  "  endure"  the  doctrine,  and  to  feel 
a  regard  to  "  the  honour  that  cometh  from  God."  To  account  for 
the  removal  of  pride  and  eimiity  as  bars  to  believing,  hy  means  of 
believing,  is,  I  say,  very  extraordinary,  and  as  inconsistent  with 
Mr.  M.'s  own  concessions  as  it  is  with  scripture  and  reason  :  for. 
when  writing  on  spiritual  illumination,  he  allows  the  dark  and  car- 
nal mind  to  be  thereby  rendered  spiritual,  and  so  enabled  to  dis- 
cern and  believe  spiritual  things.* 

I  am  yours,  &c. 

*  Reply,  p.  7, 


JLKTTCR  VIII. 


*.N    INQUIRY    WHKTHER    THE     PRINCIJ'LES    HKRE    DEFENnED    AFFECT 
THE   DOCTRINE  OF    FREE  JUSTIFICATION   IIY    FAITH   IN   THE   RI<;HT 
EOUSNESS  OF  CHRIST. 


My  dear  Friend, 

You  are  aware  thai  thi«  subject  has  frequently  occurred  in  the 
foregoing  letters  ;  but,  being  of"  the  first  importance,  I  wish  to  ap- 
propriate one  letter  wholly  to  it.  If  any  thing  I  have  advanced 
be  inconsistent  with  juslitication  by  faith  alone,  in  oppo<<ition  to  jus- 
tification by  the  works  of  the  law,  I  am  not  aware  of  it ;  and  on 
conviction  that  it  is  so,  should  feel  it  my  duty  to  retract  it.  I 
know  Mr.  M'Lean  has  laboured  hard  to  substantiate  this  charge 
against  me  ;  but  1  know  also  that  it  belongs  to  the  adherents  ofihe 
system  to  claim  the  exclusive  possession  of  this  doctrine,  and  to 
charge  others  with  error  concerning  it,  on  very  insufficient 
grounds.*     You  may  remember,  perhaps,  that  Dr.  Gill  was  accu 

•  I  do  not  mean  to  suggest  that  Mr.  M' Lean's  sijslfm  is  precisely  that  of  Mr. 
Sandemaa.  The  forinor,  in  his  Tliom^hls  on  the  Calls  of  the  Gosptt,  liaa  cer- 
tainly departed  from  it  in  many  thin°;s,  particul'irly  iu  respect  of  the  9  nner's 
bein^  justified  antecedently  to  any  "act,  exercise,  or  advrince"  of  his  mind 
towards  Christ;  and  on  which  account  Mr.  S.  wituld  have  set  him  down 
among  the  popular  preachersA  But  he  has  so  much  of  the  system  of  .Mr.  S. 
still  in  his  mind,  as  often  to  reason  upon  the  ground  of  it,  and  to  iovolre  hiis- 
self  in  numerous  inconsisteacies. 

t  Pee  Letters  on  Tberon  and  Aspasio,  Vol.  IL  p.  401,  Note. 


444  ^^^  JUSTIFICATION  [Lkiter  VIII. 

^ed  of  seir-ni;lileuu.iuess,  by  31.  Saiidetiiuii,  on  the  ground  of  his 
being  an  anti-jiaRdobaplist  ! 

A  large  part  of  (bat  which  Mr.  M'Lean  has  written  on  this  sub- 
ject, is  what  I  never  meant  to  oppose  ;  much  of  what  he  imputes 
(o  me  is  without  ibuiivi  ilion  ;  and  even  where  my  sentiments  are 
introduced,  they  are  generally  in  caricalure. 

1  have  no  doubt  of  the  clnracter  which  a  siiuier  sustains  antece- 
dently to  hisjustification,  both  in  the  account  ofthe  Lawgiver  of  the 
world,  and  in  his  own  account,  being  that  ofthe  ungodly.  1  have 
no  objection  to  Mr.  M's  own  statement,  th.it  God  may  as  proper- 
ly be  said  to  juslifj'^  the  ungodly  as  to  pardon  the  guilty.  If  the 
sinner  at  the  instant  of  justification  be  allowed  not  to  he  at 
enmity  with  God,  that  is  all  I  contend  for,  and  that  is  in  effect 
allowed  by  Mr.  M.  He  acknowledges  that  the  Apostle  "  does 
not  use  ttie  word  ungodly  to  describe  the  existing  cliaractcr  of  an 
actual  believer."*  But  if  so,  as  no  man  is  justified  till  he  is  an  ac- 
tual believer,  no  man  is  justified  in  enmity  to  God.  He  also  con- 
siders faith,  justification,  and  sanctificalion  as  coeval,  and  allows 
that  no  believer  is  in  a  state  of  enmity  to  God  t  It  follows,  that 
as  no  man  is  justified  till  he  believes  in  Jesus,  no  man  is  justified 
till  he  ceases  to  be  God's  enemy,  if  this  be  granted,  all  is  grant- 
ed for  which  I  contend. 

If  there  be  any  meaning  in  words,  Mr.  Sandeman  considered 
the  term  ungodly  as  denoting  the  existiitg  slate  of  mind  in  a  believ- 
er at  the  time  of  his  justification  ;  for  he  professes  to  have  been 
at  enmity  with  God,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  not  to  have 
"  begun  to  love  bin),"  till  he  was  justified,  and  even  perceived 
that  he  was  so.:{:  It  was  this  notion  that  I  wished  to  oppose,  and 
not  any  thing  relative  to  the  character  under  which  the  sinner  is 
justified.  Mr.  M.'s  third  question,  namely,  "  Whether  justifying 
taith  respects  God  as  the  justifier  ofthe  ungodly  ?"  was  never  any 
question  with  me.  Yet  he  will  have  it  that  !  "  make  the  Apostle 
by  the  term  ungodly  to  mean  godly."  He  might  as  well  say  that 
wb.en  I  allow  pardon  to  respect  men  as  guilty,  and  yet  plead  for 
repent  nice  as  necessary  to  it,  1  make  repentance  and  guilt  to  be 
the  same  thing. 

*  Reply,  p.  123.         ';  Ibid.  p.  43.         %  E^/istolary  Correspondence,  p,  12. 


Letter  \  111  j  ON  JUSTIFICA'i  (j\. 


4'15 


1  a:ij  not  aware  of  any  ditfercnce  with  Mr.  M.  as  to  uiiat  coiisti- 
hites  a  godly  character.  TlioiiL;h  (aitli  is  necessary  to  jiistitica- 
tion,  and  Ihereforo,  in  the  order  of  nature,  previous  to  it ;  yet  I 
have  no  objection  to  what  he  says,  that  it  <lous  not  constitute  a 
godly  citaractr.r,  or  state  previously  to  justilkation  *  And  what- 
«!vcr  I  have  written  of  repentance  as  preceding  faith  iti  Clirist,  or 
of  a  holy  faith  as  necessary  to  justilication,  I  do  not  consider  any 
person  as  a  penitent  or  holy  character  till  he  believes  in  Christ 
and  is  justiliod.  The  holiness  for  which  1  plead  antecedent  to  this 
is  merely  incipient ;  the  rising  beam  of  the  sanctitication  of  the 
Spirit.  It  is  no  more  than  the  spirilujility  which  Mr.  M.  considers 
as  produced  by  divine  illumination,  previous,  or  in  order  to  be- 
lieving;! and  all  the  consequences  that  he  has  charged  on  the 
one,  might  with  equal  justice  be  charged  on  the  other. 

Nor  am  I  aware  of  any  diflorence  in  our  views  respecting  the 
duties  of  unbelievers ;  if  there  be  any,  however,  it  is  not  on  the 
side  that  -Mr.  i\I.  imagines,  but  the  contrary,  ilaving  described 
the  awakened  sinner  as  '•'convinced  of  guilt,  distressed  in  his 
mind  on  accoimt  of  it,  really  concerned  about  the  salvation  of  his 
soul,  and  not  only  earnestly  desiring  relief,  but  diligenllv  labour- 
ing to  obtain  it,  according  to  the  directions  given  him,  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  holy  atfrclions  and  dispositions,"  he  adds,  "  All  this  I 
admit  may  be  previous  to  laith  in  Christ,  and  forgiveness 
through  him.  Jind  vill  Mr.  Fidlcr  dituj  this  is  the  repentance  he 
pleads  fur  in  order  to  forgiveness?''  ^  Most  ceutainlv  he  will. 
Had  this  been  what  he  pleaded  for,  he  had  been  justly  char<»ea- 
hle  with  the  consequences  which  Mr.  M'Lean  has  attempted  to 
load  him  w  ilh.  But  it  is  not.  1  cannot  but  consider  this  question 
as  a  proof  that  Mr.  M,  utterly  mistook  my  sentiments  on  this  part 
of  the  subject  as  much  as  1  did  his  in  another,  in  consequence  of 
having  considered  him  as  the  author  of  a  piece  called  Simple  Truth. 
I  have  no  more  idea  of  there  being  any  holiness  in  the  exercis- 
es which  he  has  described  than  he  himself  has.  I  might  add,  nor 
quite  so  mueh:  for,  (notwithstantling  what  he  has  here  advanced,)  in 
his  Thoughts  on  the  Calls  of  the  Gospel,  he  does  not  keep  clear  of 

'    Reply,  p.  145.  +  Ibid.  [>.  1.  1   IbiJ.  j,.   ]  i:,- 


446  ^^  JUSTIFICATION.  [Letter  VIII. 

unregenerate  works  being  somewhat  good,  or  at  least  that  they 
are  not  all  and  altogether  sinful,*  If  this  be  compared  with  what 
I  have  written  on  total  depravity,  in  Essays,  pp.  63 — 8 1 ,  it  will  be 
seen  who  holds,  and  who  holds  not,  with  the  holiness  of  the  do- 
ings of  the  unregenerate. 

But,  whether  or  not  1  deny  this  to  be  the  repentance  for  which 
I  plead  as  necessary  to  forgiveness,  Mr.  M.  plainly  intimates  that 
it  is  all  the  repentance  which  he  allows  to  be  so.  In  all  that  he  has 
written  therefore,  acknowledging  repentance  to  be  necessary  to 
forgiveness,!  he  only  means  to  allow  that  a  few  graceless  convic- 
tions are  so  :  and,  in  contradiction  to  the  whole  current  of  scrip- 
ture, even  to  those  scriptures  which  he  has  produced  and  reasoned 
from  in  his  Thoughts  on  the  calls  of  the  Gospel,  still  believes  that 
sinners  are  forgiven  prior  to  any  repentance  but  that  which  needs 
to  be  repented  of. 

The  difference  between  us,  as  to  the  subject  of  this  letter,  seems 
chiefly  to  respect  the  nature  of  faith,  whether  it  include  any  ex- 
ercise of'the  will  ;  and  if  it  do,  whether  it  affect  the  doctrine  of 
free  justification. 

Mr.  M.  acknowledges  fiith,  as  a  principle  of  sanctification,  to  be 
holy:  it  is  only  as  justifying  that  he  is  for  excluding  all  holy  af- 
I'ection  from  it.|  But  if  it  be  holy  in  relation  to  sanctification,  it 
must  be  holy  in  itself;  and  that  which  is  holy  in  itself,  must  be  so 
in  every  relation  which  it  sustains.  It  is  not  one  kind  of  faith 
that  sanctifies,  and  another  that  justifies  ;  but  the  same  thing  in 
different  respects.  To  represent  faith  sanctifying  as  being  holy 
and  faith  justifying  as  having  no  holiness  in  it,  is  not  viewing  the 
same,  but  a  different  thing  in  different  respects. 

For  a  specimen  of  Mr.  M.'s  manner  of  writing  on  this  subject, 
you  will  excuse  my  copying  as  follows  :  "  An  awakened  sinner 
asks,  What  must  I  do  to  he  saved?  An  Apostle  answers,  Believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.  But  a  preacher  of 
the  doctrine  I  am  opposing,  would  have  taught  him  another  lesson. 
He  might,  indeed,  in  compliance,  with  scripture  language,  use  the 
word  believe  ;  but  he  would  tell    him  that,   in  this  case,  it  did 

*  bee  Vol.  II,  of  his  Works,  pp.  63,  64.    t  Reply,  pp.  36—42    |  Ibid.  p.  97. 


I.KTTEnVMIj  ON  JUSTIFICATION,  447 

not  be;ir  its  usual  sense,  that  it  was  not  the  a«scnt  of  his  under- 
standing, in  giving  credit  to  the  testimony  of  the  gospel,  by  a 
jTore  arisiim  from  n  previous  spiritual  principle,  and  inclu<iing  in 
it  a  number  of  holy  affect  tons  and  dispositions  of  heart,  all  of 
\vhi>h  he  must  exercise  and  set  a  working,  in  order  to  his  being 
justified  ;  and  many  directions  will  be  given  him  how  he  is  to 
perform  this.  But  this  is  to  destroy  the  freedom  of  the  gospel, 
and  to  make  the  hope  of  a  sinner  turn  upon  his  finding  some  vir- 
tuous exercises  and  dispositions  in  his  own  heart,  instead  of  pla- 
cing it  directly  in  the  work  finished  by  the  son  of  God  upon  the 
cross.  In  opposition  to  this,  I  maintain  that  whatever  virtue  or 
holiness  may  be  su|)po9ed  itj  the  nature  of  faith  itself,  as  it  is  not 
the  ground  of  a  sinner's  justification  in  the  sight  of  God,  so  nei- 
ther does  it  enter  into  the  consideration  of  the  person  who  is  real- 
ly believing  unto  righteousness.  He  views  himself,  not  as  exerci- 
sing virtue,  but  only  as  a  mere  sinner,  while  he  believes  on  him 
that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  through  the  atonement."  pp.98,  99. 

Vou  will  not  expect  me  to  answer  this.  It  is  a  proof  how  far  a 
writer  may  misunderstand,  and  so  misrepresent  his  opponent ; 
and  even  in  those  things  wherein  he  understands  him,  describe 
him  in  caricature.  1  will  only  apply  a  few  of  the  leading  traits  in 
this  picture,  to  Mr.  M.'s  own  principles.  '  A  preacher  of  this  doc- 
trine, instead  of  directing  a  sinner  to  believe  in  Christ,  and  there 
leaving  it,  would  tell  him  that  faith  was  an  assent  of  his  understand- 
ing, a  grace  arising  from  a  previous  divine  illumination,  by  which 
he  becomes  spiritual,  and  which  he  must  needs  therefore  first  be 
possessed  of,  and  thus  set  him  a  working  in  order  to  get  it,  that  he 
may  be  justified.  But  this  is  to  deny  the  freeness  of  the  gospel, 
and  to  make  the  hope  of  a  sinner  turn  upon  his  finding  some  lit^ht 
within  him,  instead  of  placing  it  upon  the  finished  work  of  the  Son 
of  God  upon  the  cross.  In  opposition  to  this,  I  maintain  that  what- 
ever illumination  may  be  supposed  necessary  to  believing,  and 
whatever  spiritual  perception  is  contained  in  the  nature  of  it,  as  it 
is  not  the  groimd  of  a  sinner's  justification  in  the  sight  of  God,  so 
neither  does  it  enter  into  the  consideration  of  the  person  who  ie 
really  believing  unto  rightoeusness.     He  views  himself  not  as  di- 


448  t^N  JUSTIFICATION.  [Lktter  VIII. 

vinely  ilhuninated,  but  merely  as  a  sinner,  believing  in  him  wlio 
Justifieth  the  ungodly  through  the  righteousness  of  his  Son.' 

Mr.  M.  when  writing  in  this  strain,  knew  that  I  had  said  near- 
ly the  same  things;  and,  therefore,  that  if  he  were  opposing  me,  I 
had  first  opposed  myself.  He  even  quotes  almost  a  page  of  my 
acknowledgments  on  the  subject.*  But  these  are  things,  it  seems, 
which  I  only  "  sometimes  seem  to  hold."  Well,  if  Mr.  M.  can 
prove  that  I  have  any  zvhere,  either  in  the  piece  he  was  answering, 
or  in  any  other,  directed  the  sinner's  attention  to  the  workings  of 
iiis  own  mind,  instead  of  Christ,  or  have  set  him  a  ti'orking,  (unless 
!ie  please  to  give  that  name  to  an  exhortation  to  forsake  his  way. 
and  return  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,)  or  have  given  him  any 
directions  how  to  work  himself  into  a  believing  frame;  then  let  all 
that  he  has  said  stand  against  me.  But  if  not,  let  me  be  believed 
when  I  declare  my  utter  disapprobation  of  every  thing  of  the  kind. 

But  Mr.  M.  has  another  charge,  or  rather  mspicion  against  me. 
•'  Mr.  Fuller  admits,"  he  says,  "  that  faith  does  not  justify,  either 
as  an  internal  or  external  work,  or  /lo'y  exercise,  o>-  as  being  ct7iy 
2?ar?  of  that  which  is  imputed  unto  us  for  risiiteousness;  and  did 
not  other  parts  of  his  writings  appear  to  clash  with  this, — I  should 
rest  satisfied.  But  I  own  that  I  am  not  without  a  suspicion  that 
Mr.  F.  here  only  means  that  faith  does  not  justify  as  the  procuring 
cause  or  meritorious  ground  of  a  sinner's  justification;  and  that 
while  we  hold  this  point,  we  may  include  as  much  virtue  and  holy 
exercise  of  the  will  and  affections  as  we  please,  without  affecting 
the  point  of  justification,  as  that  stands  entirely  upon  another 
ground,  viz.  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  But  it  must  be  carefully 
observed,  that  the  diflerence  between  us  docs  not  respect  themeri- 
torious  procuring  cause  of  justification,  but  the  way  in  which  we 
receive  it."* 

Be  it  according  to  this  statement,  (and  I  have  no  objection  to 
say  that  such  is  the  whole  of  my  meaning, >  yet  what  is  there  in 
this  that  clashes  with  the  above  acknowledgments,  or  with  free 
justification  ?  There  may  be  a  "  difference  between  us"  which 
yet  may  not  affect  this  doctrine.     But  let  us  hear  him  through. 

*  Reply,  p.  100.  t  IbM. 


L»;rrta  VIII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  449 

*'■  The  scriptures  abundantly  teytily  that  we  m-c  justified  by  faith, 
\vhicb  shows  that  faith  has  some  concern  in  ll)is  matter."  True. 
"  -And  iMr.  Fuller  ailniits  that  jupfitkalion  is  a<cril)0(lto  fiiitii,  mere- 
ly as  that  wiiicli  unites  us  to  Christ,  {or  {ho  r^ko.  ofwhorio  righteous- 
ness alone,  we  are  accepted."  Very  good.  *'  Therefore,  the  only 
question  between  us  is  this.  Does  fiith  unite  us  to  Christ,  and  so 
receive  justification  through  his  rii;hteousness,  merely  in  crediting 
the  divine  testimony  respecting  the  sufliciency  of  that  righteous- 
ness alone  to  justify  us;  or  docs  it  unite  us  to  Christ,  and  obtain 
justification  through  his  righteousness,  by  virtue  of  its  being  a  mor- 
al excellency,  and  as  including  the  holy  exercise,  of  the  will  ami  af- 
fections ?  The  tbrmer  is  my  view  of  this  matter;  the  hitter,  if  I 
am  not  greatly  mistaken,  is  Mr.  Fuller's."  p.  101. 

It  is  some  satisfaction  to  tind  our  differences  on  the  important 
doctrine  of  justification  reduced  to  a  single  point.  Allowing  my 
sentiments  to  be  fairly  slated,  (and  though  I  should  not  express 
them  just  in  these  words,  yet  I  certaiidy  ilo  consider  a  holy  faith 
as  necessary  to  unite  us  to  a  holy  Saviour,)  the  question  is,  wheth- 
er this  sentiment  clashes  with  the  foregoing  acknowledgments,  or 
with  the  doctrine  of  free  justification  ?  It  lies  on  Mr.  M.  io  prove 
that  it  does  so.  Let  us  hear  him  "  I  hold  that  sinners  are  justi- 
tied  througli  Christ's  righteousness,  6y /at7/t  alone,  or  purely  in 
believing  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  which  he  finished  on 
the  cross,  and  which  was  declared  to  be  accepted  by  his  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead,  is  alone  sufficient  for  their  pardon  and  accept- 
ance with  God,  however  guilty  and  unworthy  they  are.  But,  iit 
opposition  to  this,  the  whole  strain  of  Mr  Fuller's  reasoning,  tends 
to  show  that  sinners  are  not  justified  by  faith  alone,  but  by  faith 
working  by  love,  or  including  in  it  the  holy  exercise  of  the  will 
and  affections;  and  this  addition  to  faith  he  makes  to  be  that  quali- 
lication  in  it,  on  which  the  fitness  or  congruity  of  an  interest  in 
Christ's  righteousness  depends.  (App.  pp.  183,  184.)  Without 
this  addition,  he  considers  faith  itself,  whatever  be  its  grounds  or 
object,  to  be  an  empty,  unholy  speciilnlion,  which  requires  no  in- 
fluence of  the  Spirit  to  produce  it.  (p.  128.)  So  that  if  what  is 
properly  termed/rt»</i,  has  in  his  opinion  any  place  at  all  in  justifi- 

Voi.  in.  :*7 


450  <^N  JUSTIFICATION.  [Letter  VUl. 

cation,  it  must  be  merely  on  account  of  the  holy  exercises  and  af- 
fections which  attend  it."  pp.  101,  102. 

Such  is  Mr.  M.'sproo/'of  ray  consistency  with  my  own  acknowl- 
edgments, and  with  the  freeness  of  justification. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  difference  be- 
tween us,  by  Mr.  IVl.'s  own  acknowledgment,  does  not  respect  the 
meritorious,  ov  procuring  cause  of  justification.  j\ll  he  says,  there- 
fore, of  "  the  righteousness  of  Christ  as  finished,  and  declared  to 
be  accepted  by  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  being  alone  suffi- 
cient for  our  pardon  and  acceptance  with  God,  however  guilty  and 
•unworthy  we  are,"  belongs  equally  to  mj'  views,  as  to  his  own; 
yet,  immediately  after  these  words,  he  says,  "  but  in  opposition  to 
this,  Mr.  F."  &c.  as  if  these  sentiments  were  exclusively  his  own. 
The  diff-^rence  belwefen  us  belongs  to  the  nature  of  justifying 
faith.  He  considers  the  sinner  as  united  to  Christ,  and  so  as  jus- 
tified, by  the  mere  assent  of  his  understanding  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  cross,  exclusive  of  all  iipprohntion  of  it:  whereas  I  consider 
every  thing  pertaining  to  the  understanding,  when  the  term  is 
used  exclusive  of  approbation,  to  be  either  merely  natural,  or  a 
"  seeing  and  hating  of  Christ  the  Father."  Nor  is  approbation  a 
mere  effect  of  faith,  but  enters  into  its  essence.  It  is  believing, 
but  it  is  believing  with  the  heart ;  which  all  the  labors  of  Mr.  San- 
deman  and  his  disciples  have  not  been  able  to  prove  r^eans  only 
the  understanding.  We  may  believe  many  things  withor.t  approv- 
ing them  :  but  the  nature  of  the  objects  believed  in  this  case, 
renders  cordiality  essential  to  it.  It  is  impossible,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  to  believe  the  gospel  without  a  sense  of  the  exceeding 
sinfulness  of  sin,  and  of  the  suitableness  and  glory  of  the  Saviour, 
which  does  not  meve.\y ,  produce  but  includes  approbation  of  him. 
To  "  see  no  form  nor  comeliness  in  him"  is  the  same  thing  as  to  be 
an  unbeliever;  and  the  contrary  is  to  be  a  believer. 

But  I  shall  notice  these  remarks  of  Mr.  M.  a  little  more  particu- 
larly. 

First :  By  the  manner  in  which  he  has  introduced  them,  it  must 
appear  to  the  reader  that  I  had  not  fully  declared  my  mind  on  this 
subject,  and  that  Mr.  M.  in  detecting  my  errors  was  obliged  to  pro- 
ceed  on  the  uncertain  ground  of  "suspicion:"  yethe  could  not  hav& 


Letter  VIH.J  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  45 1 

read  liie  very  pages  on  which  he  was  animadverting,*  without  hav- 
ing repeatedly  met  with  the  most  express  avowals  of  the  sentiment, 
such  as  the  following — "  Whatever  is  pleaded  in  behalf  of  the  ho- 
ly nature  of  faith,  it  is  not  supposed  to  justify  us  as,  uwork  or  holy 
exercise,  or  as  being  any  part  of  that  which  is  accounted  unto  us 
for  righteousness :  but  merely  as  that  which  i'Nites  to  christ, 
for  the  sake  of  whose  righteousness  alone  we  are  accepted." — 
Again  :  "  Living  faith,  or  faith  that  worketh  by  love,  is  necessary 
to  justification,  not  as  being  the  ground  of  our  acceptance  with 
Ciod  ;  not  as  a  virtue  of  which  justification  is  the  reward;  but  as 
that  without  which  tve  could  not  be  vsitev  to  a  mvino  repeem- 
ER."  Yet  with  these  passages  before  his  eyes,  Mr.  M.  affects  to  be 
at  a  loss  to  know  my  sentiments  ;  he  "  suspects"  I  maintain  lioly 
affection  in  faith  as  necessary  to  union  with  Christ ! 

Secondly:  If  the  difference  between  us  has  no  respect  to  the 
meritorious,  or  procuring  cause  of  justification,  as  Mr.  M.  allows 
it  has  not,  then  why  does  he  elsewhere  tell  his  reader  that  "  he 
thinks  Mr.  F.  means  to  plead  for  such  a  moral  fitness  for  justifica- 
tion as  that  wherein  the  virtue  of  the  parly  commends  him  to  it , 
or  in  which  he  is  put  into  a  good  state  as  a  fit  or  suitable  testimony 
of  regard  to  the  moral  excellency  of  his  qualifications  or  arts." 
(p.  104.  J  I  know  not  what  Mr.  M.  may  think,  but  1  should  consid- 
er this  as  making  faith  the  procuring  cause,  or  meritorious  ground 
of  justification  :  for  what  is  the  meritorious  ground  of  a  blessing 
but  that  in  consideration  of  which  it  is  bestowed  .' 

Thirdly  :  If  it  is  not  sufficient  that  we  ascribe  the  meritorious, 
or  procuring  cause  of  justifii  ation  to  the  work  of  Christ,  unless  we 
also  exclude  all  holy  affection  from  the  nature  of  faith  as  uniting  us 
to  him,  how  is  it  that  Mr.  M.  has  written  as  he  has  on  the  Colli  of 
the  Gospel?  He  seems  to  have  thought  it  quite  enough  for  him\o 
disavow  repentance  or  faith  as  making  any  part  of  our  justifying 
righteousness,  though  the  same  disavowal  on  my  part  gives  him  no 
satisfaction.  "  Did  Peter,"  he  asks,  "  overturn  the  doctrine  of 
free  justification  by  faith  when  he  exhorted  the  nnbeliving  Jews 
to  repent  and  be  converted  that  their  sins  might  be  blotted  out  ? 

•  Append  ix,  pp.  1 82—  1 84 . 


452  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Letter  Vll\. 

Does  he  there  direct  them  to  any  any  part  nf  that  work  which 
Christ  had  finished  for  the  justification  nf  the  uns;ndly,  or  lead 
them  to  tliink  that  their  faith,  repentance,  or  conversion  were  to 
make  an  atonement  for  their  sins?"  Again  :  "  Cannot  the  wick- 
ed be  exhorted  to  beheve,  repent,  and  seek  the  Lord,  and  be  en- 
couraged to  this  by  a  promise  of  success,  without  making  the  suc- 
cess to  depend  on  human  merit?  Are  such  exhortations  and 
promises  always  to  be  suspected  of  having  a  dangerous  and 
self  righteous  tendency  ?  Instead  of  taking  tliem  in  their  plain 
and  simple  sense,  must  our  main  care  always  be  to  guard 
against  some  supposed  self-righleous  use  of  them,  till  we  have  ex- 
plained away  their  whole  force  and  spirit,  and  so  distinguished  and 
refined  upon  them  as  to  make  men  more  afraid  to  comply  with, 
(ban  to  reject  them,  lest  tliey  should  he  guilty  of  nome  exertion  of 
mind  or  body,  some  good  disjjosition  or  motion  towards  Christ, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  the  highest  roickedness,  and  a  despising  of 
the  work  of  Christ  V*. 

Ifthere  be  any  meaning  in  words,  Mr.  M.  here  most  decidedly 
contends  for  repentance,  faith,  and  conversion  (which  must  be 
allowed  to  include  holy  affection)  being  necessary  in  the  establish- 
ed order  of  things^  to  mercy,  pardon,  &.c.  which  must  also  be  al- 
lowed to  include  justification. 

Fourthly  :  With  respect  to  fitness,  I  think,  with  Mr.  M.  thai 
there  is  a  "  peculiar  suitableness  in  faith  to  receive  jus- 
tification, and  every  other  spiritual  blessing  purely  of  grace." 
(p.  106.)  It  is  of  faith  that  it  might  of  grace.  And  this 
peculiar  suitableness  consists  in  its  being  of  the  nature  of 
faith  to  receive  the  blessings  of  grace  as  God's  free  gifts  through 
the  atonement,  instead  of  performing  any  thing  in  the  way 
of  being  rewarded  for  it.  Thus  it  is  properly  opposed  to  the 
works  of  the  law.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  in  order  to  this 
there  must  be  no  "  good  disposition  or  motion  towards  Christ"  in 
our  believing  in  him.  On  the  contrary,  if  faith  were  mere  knowl- 
edge, exclusive  of  approbation,  it  would  not  be  adapted  to  receive 
the  doctrine  of  the  gospel ;  it  would  be  either  uniioly,  or  at  best 
merely  natural.     If  the  former  instead  of  receiving,   it  would  be 

*  See  Works,  Vol.  II,  pp.  38.  55,56. 


Lettkr  VIII.]  ON  JUiTlFICATlDN.  453 

cprlain  to  reject  tlio  heavenly  doctrine  ;  ;uid  if  tljc  Intter,  tlicre 
would  be  no  more  suitableness  to  receive  it,  than  there  is  in  the 
wisdom  of  this  world  to  receive  the  true  knowledge  of  God.  A 
holv  faith  is  necessary  to  receive  a  holy  doctrine,  and  so  to  unite 
lis  to  a  holy  Saviour. 

Thejitness  for  which  I  plead,  in  God's  justifying  those  who 
cordially  acquiesce  in  the  go^spcl  way  of  salvation,  rather  than  oth- 
ers, and  which  Mr.  IM.  considers  as  inronsistent  u-ith  free  justifica- 
tion, (Reply,  p.  IfiS.)  is  no  other  than  the  fitness  of  wisdom,  which, 
while  it  preserves  the  honours  of  grace,  is  not  inattentive  to  those 
of  rii^liteou'^noss.  Had  it  been  said,  Though  the  wicked  forsake 
)int  his  way,  »or  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts  ;  and  though  he 
return  not  to  the  Lord,  yet  will  he  have  mercy  upon  him,  ?ior  to 
our  God,  yet  will  he  abundantly  pardon — we  should  feel  a  want  of 
fitness,  and  instantly  perceive  that  grace  was  here  exalted  at  the 
expense  of  righteou-sness.  lie  that  can  discern  no  fitness  in 
such  connexions  but  that  of  ?ror/;.9  a«rf  ?-ejrarr/s,  must  have  yet  to 
learn  some  of  the  first  |)rinciples  of  the  oracles  of  God. 

Fifthly  :  With  respect  to  justification  bi/  faith  alone,  .Mr.  M.  ap- 
pears to  have  affixed  a  new  sense  to  the  phrase.  1  have  always 
understood  it  to  moan  justification  by  a  righteousness  reciived,  in 
opposition  to  justification  by  a  rigliteousness  7>e/yb?7Hr(/,  according 
to  Gal.  iii.  1  ] ,  I'i.  'PItat  no  man  is  justijied  by  the  lan'  in  the  sight 
of  God,  is  evident :  for  the  just  shall  live  by  faith.  And  the  law 
is  not  of  faith  :  but  thi:  man  that  dokth  tiikm  i^hall  lire  in 
them.  In  this  sense,  justification  hy  faith  alone  applies  to  my 
views  of  the  subject  as  well  as  to  his  ;  but  the  sense  in  which  he 
uses  the  phrase  is  very  nearly  akin  to  that  in  which  James  uses  it 
when  speaking  of  faith  as  dead,  being  alone.  We  are,  indeed,  jus- 
tified hy  faith  alone  ;  but  not  by  faith  rchich  is  alone. 

IMr.  M.  is  in  the  habit  of  speaking  of  that  holiness  which  I  con- 
ceive essential  to  the  nature  of  faith  as  something  "  added"  to  it, 
or  as  being  something  "  more"  than  faith  :  but  he  might  as  well 
say  that  a  cordial  rejection  of  the  gospel  is  something*'  more"  than 
unbelief.  In  like  manner  he  seems  to  consider  the  jjhrase  faith 
which  worketh  by  love  as  expressive  of  what  faith  produces  posteri' 
or  to  its  uniting  us  to  Christ;  whereas  it  is  of  the  nature  of  faith  in  its 
very ^rs/ existence  in  the  mind  to  work,  and  that  in  a  way  of  love- 


454  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [Letter  Vin, 

to  the  object.  It  is  also  remarkable,  that  Paul  speaks  of  faith 
which  worketh  hy  love  as  availing  to  justification  ;  while  circum- 
cision or  uncircumcision  availeth  nothing.*  Faith,  hope,  and 
charily  have,  no  doubt,  their  distinctive  characters  ;  but  not  one 
of  them,  nor  of  any  other  grace,  consists  in  its  being  devoid  of  holy 
affection.  This  is  a  common  property  belonging  to  all  the  graces, 
is  coeval  with  them,  and  essential  to  them.  Whatever  we  may 
possess,  call  it  knowledge  or  faith,  or  what  we  may,  if  it  be  devoid 
of  this,  it  is  not  the  effect  of  special  divine  influence,  and  therefore 
not  a  fruit  of  the  Spirit.     That  which  is  hornofthe  Spirit,  is  spirit. 

Lastly  :  ff  union  with  Christ  were  antecedent  to  all  holy  affec- 
tion, it  would  not  be  what  the  scriptures  represent  it ;  namely,  an 
union  of  spirit :  He  that  is  joined  to  the  Lord  is  one  spirit.! 
Union  of  Spirit  must  include  congeniality  of  disposition.  Our 
heart  must  be  as  Christ's  heart,  or  we  are  not  one  with  him.  Be- 
lieving in  him  with  all  the  heart,  we  from  hence,  according  to  the 
wise  and  gracious  constitution  of  the  gosspel,  and  not  in  reward  of 
any  holiness  in  us,  possess  a  revealed  interest  in  him,  and  in  all 
the  bienefits  arising  from  his  obedience  unto  death.  He  that  hath 
the  Son  hath  life,  Such  appears  to  be  the  order  of  things  as  taught 
us  in  the  scripture,  and  such  the  connexion  between  faith  and  jus- 
tification. If  union  with  Christ  were  acquired  by  faith,  and  an  in- 
terest in  him  were  bestowed  in  reward  of  it,  it  would  indeed  be  in- 
consistant  with  free  justification  :  but  if  the  necessity  of  a  holy 
feith  arise  merely  from  the  nature  of  things  ;  that  is,  its  fitness  to 
unite  us  to  a  holy  Saviour  ;  and  if  faith  itself  be  the  gift  of  God,  no 
such  consequence  follows  ;  for  the  union,  though  we  be  active  in 
it,  is  in  reality  formed  by  him  who  actuates  us,  and  to  him  belongs 
the  praise.  Of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made 
unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  aanctif  cation,  and  redemp' 
tion  ;  that  according  as  it  is  written  He  that  glorieth,  let  him 
'ULORY  in  the  Lord. J 

Mr.  M.  has  written  much  about  God's  justifying  the  ungodly  : 
but  while  he  allows  that  the  term  is  not  descriptive  of  the  existing 
character  of  a  believer,  I  have  no  dispute  with  him.  He  admits  that 

*  G;il,  v.C<,  +1  Cor.  vi,  17.  1 1  Cor.  i.  30,  31. 


Letter  VIII.]  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  U^ 

when  Christ  is  said  to  die  for  the  ungodly,  (he  term  includes  manj 
who  at  the  time  were  saints,  only  he  died  not  for  them  as 
saints;  (p.  115.)  and  this  I  readily  allow.  The  examples  of 
Ahrahatii  and  David  were  not  introduced  by  me  to  prove  them  to 
have  been  godly  characters  for  many  years  prior  to  their  justifica- 
tion ;  but  that  the  examples  of  their  faith  being  taken  not  from 
their  first  believing,  while  yet  it  respected  God  as  the  justifier  ol 
the  ungodly,  the  doctrine  of  free  justification  could  not  require  that 
the  party  should  at  the  time  be  at  enmity  with  (lod.* 

Mr.  M.  has  also  written  much  about  the  state  of  an  awakened 
sinner.  Ashe  had  disowned  the  subject  of  nny  holy  affection,  \ 
concluded  he  must  be  "  an  hardhearted  enemy  of  God."  This 
was  st.ited,  not  from  a  want  of  feeling  toward  any  poor  sinner,  but 
to  show  whither  the  principle  led.  Mr.  M.  answers^"  I  have  not 
the  least  idea  that  a  hardnearted  enemy  of  God,  while  such,  can 
either  receive  or  enjoy  forgiveness  ;  but  I  distinguish  between 
such  a  stale  of  mind,  and  that  of  an  awakened  self-condemned  sin- 
ner, and  also  between  the  latter  and  a  real  convert  who  believes 
the  gospel,  has  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  and  is  possessed  of 
holy  affections."  (p.  151.)  Is  there  a  medium,  then,  between  ho- 
ly affection  and  hardhearted  enmity  ?  If  so,  it  must  be  something 
like  neutrality.  But  Christ  has  left  no  room  for  this,  having  de- 
clared, He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  mc.  Let  a  sinner  be 
alarmed  as  much  ns  he  may,  if  he  have  no  holy  affection  toward 
God,  he  must  be  a  hardhearted  enemy  to  him.  Such  I  believe  are 
many  awakened  sinners  notwithstanding  all  their  terrors,  and  such 
they  will  view  themselves  to  have  been,  if  they  ever  come  to  see 
things  as  they  are.  There  are  others,  however  who  are  not  so, 
but  whose  convictions  are  spiritual,  like  those  of  Paul,  who  saw 
sin,  through  the  commandment,  to  be  exceeding  sinful,  and  who 
through  the  lazv  became  dead  to  the  law,  that  he  might  live  unto  God.'*'' 
Convictions  of  this  kind  lead  the  sinner  to  Christ.  They  may  not 
be  distinguishable  at  the  time,  either  by  himself  or  others,  and 
nothing  hut  the  effects  may  prove  the  difference  :  yet  an  es- 
sential difference  there  is. 

■*  On  thii  subject  1  be»  leave  to  refer  the  reader  to  Discourse  XXU  of  my 
work  on  Genejw. 


ijG  ON  JUSTIFICATIOiV.  [Letter  Vlll. 

Mr.  M.  relers  to  the  case  of  the  jailor.  I  know  not  what  was 
his  conviction  of  the  evil  of  sin  nor  when  he  became  the  subject 
of  holy  affection.  But  be  it  when  it  njight,  he  was  till  then  an 
hardhearted  enemy  of  God.  The  case  to  which  writers  on 
Mr.  M.'s  side  the  question  more  frequently  refer  is,  that  of  the 
self-condemned  publican  ;  but  antecedently  to  his  going  down  to 
his  house  justified,  "  humbled  himself,"  and  that  in  a  way  of  Ao/y, 
though  not  o{ joyful  affection. 

According  to  Mr.  M.  there  is  a  state  of  mind  which  is  not  the 
effect  of  renewing  grace  and  therefore  contains  nothing  truly 
good  ;  but  which  is  nevertheless,  necessarij  and  sufficient  to  pre- 
pare the  sinner  for  receiving  the  forgiveness  of  his  sin.  '  A  hard- 
hearted enemy  of  God  cannot  receive  or  enjoy  gospel  forgiveness; 
but  a  sinner  under  terrors  of  conscience;,  though  equally  destitute 
of  all  regard  for  God  as  the  other,  can.'' 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  impeach  Mr.  M.'s  integrity.  1  doubt  not 
but  he  thinks  that,  in  writing  his  Reply,  he  was  engaged  in  refu- 
ting error.  Yet,  if  his  own  words  are  to  be  believed,  he  does  not 
know,  after  all,  but  that  he  has  been  opposing  the  truth.  In  page 
151,  he  gays,  "Whether  such  convictions  as  issue  in  conversion 
differ  in  kind  from  others,  1  will  not  take  upon  me  to  deter- 
mine." That  is,  he  does  not  know  but  that  it  may  be  so,  and  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  spiritual  conviction,  a  conviction  of  the  evil 
of  sin  antecedently  to  believing  in  the  Saviour,  and  subservient  to 
it.  But  this  is  the  same,  in  effect,  as  saying  he  does  not  know 
nhether  that  which  he  has  been  opposing  throughout  his  perform- 
ance may  not,  after  all,  be  true,!  '  But  I  am  certain  of  this,"  he 
adds,  "  that  it  would  be  very  unsafe  to  build  up  any  in  an  opinion 
of  their  possessing  holiness  merely  upon  the  ground  of  their  con- 
victions, while  they  come  short  of  a  real  change,  and  do  not  be- 
lieve in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  That  conviction  of  sin  and  ibs 
desert  which  is  subservient  to  faith  in  Christ,  will  never  lead  a 
person  to  think  that  it  is  any  part  of  his  holiness  ;  for  such  a 
thought  would  be  as  opposite  to  the  nature  of  his  conviction  as  his 
feeling  a  disease  would  be  to  his  thinking  himself  whole."  Very 
good  ;  but  against  what  is  it  directed  ?  not  any  thing  advanced  by 
Mis  opponent.     It  is,  however,  manifestly  against  the  scope  of  his 


r.KTTERV/H.]  ON  JL'Sril  ICATION.  457 

own  perforinunce.  The  tendency,  tlioun;h  not  tlie  design,  of  theso 
remarks  is,  to  show  that  there  is  a  "  dirt'eience  in  kind''  between 
some  convictions  and  others,  and  a  marked  one  too.  "  That  con- 
viction of  sin  and  its  de?ert  which  ir<  subservient  to  faith  in  Christ 
will  never  lead  a  person  to  think  that  i?;  any  part  of  his  holiness  :" 
but  (he  might  have  added)  that  conviction  of  sin  which  is  not  sub- 
servient to  faith  in  Christ  will.  Graceless  convictions  generally, 
if  not  always,  become  objects  of  self-admiration.  Here  then  Mr. 
M.  not  only  determines  that  there  is  a  difference  between  some 
convictions  and  others,  but  specilies  wherein  that  difference  con- 
sists. It  never  occurred  to  the  self-condemned  publican  th.it  there 
was  any  thing  good  or  holy  in  his  "humbling  himself"  before  God. 
Our  Lord,  however,  held  it  up  as  being  so,  and  recommended  it 
as  an  example  to  others. 

I  shall  conclude  this  letter  with  a  few  remarks  on  qualifications. 
This  is  a  term  on  which  Mr.  Sandeman  and  his  followers  have 
plentifully  declaimed.  It  conveys  to  me  the  idea  of  something 
which  entitles  the  party  to  a  good,  or  Jits  him  to  enjoy  it.  With 
respect  to  entitling  us,  I  suppose  there  is  no  dispute.  The  gos- 
pel and  its  invitations  are  our  title  to  come  to  Clirist  for  salvation. 
And  with  respect  to  fitting  us,  there  is  nothing  of  this  kind  that  is 
pleadable,  or  which  furnishes  any  ground  of  encouragement  to  the 
sinner  that  he  shall  be  accepted.  It  is  not  any  thing  prior  to  com- 
ing to  Christ,  but  coming  itself  that  has  the  promise  of  acceptance. 
All  that  is  pleaded  fur  is,  the  necessity  of  a  state  of  mind  suited  in 
the  nature  of  things  to  believing,  and  without  which  no  sinner  ever 
did  or  can  believe  ;  and  which  state  of  mind  is  not  self-wrought, 
but  the  effect  of  regenerating  grace. 

Mr.  Sandeman  represents  sinners  as  saying  to  preachers,  "  If 
you  would  preach  the  gospel  to  us,  you  must  tell  us  something  fit 
to  give  us  joy  as  we  presently  stand,  unconscious  of  any  distin- 
guishing qualification.^''  That  the  mind,  at  the  time  when  it  first 
receives  gospel  comfort,  may  be  unconscious,  not  only  of  every 
distinguishing  qualification,  but  of  being  the  subject  of  any  thing 
truly  good,  I  allow  ;  for  I  believe  that  is  the  first  true  comfort 
which  arises  from  the  consideration  oi  what  Christ  is,  rather  than 
of  whai  we  are  tnwarrls  him.     But  to  bo    "  nnfionscion''"   of  any 

Vol.   rif  .^8 


45S  ON  JUSTIFICATION.  [LettfrVUL 

thing  truly  good,  and  actually  destitute  of  it,  are  two  things  :  and 
so  is  its  being  necessary  in  the  nature  of  things  to  our  enjoying 
the  consolations  of  the  gospel,  and  its  being  so  as  a  qualification 
entitling,  or  in  some  way  recommending  us  to  the  divine  favour. 
To  conceive  of  a  sinner  who  is  actually  hardened  in  his  sins,  bloat- 
ed with  self-righteous  pride,  and  full  of  opposition  to  the  gospel, 
receiving  joy  "presently  as  he  stands"  is  not  only  conceiving  of 
rest  for  the  soul  without  coming  to  the  Saviour  for  it,  but  is  in 
itself  a  contradiction.  Mr.  M'Lean  acknowledges  as  much  as  this. 
"  I  have  not  the  least  idea,"  he  says  "that  a  hardhearted  enemy 
of  God,  while  such,  can  either  receive  or  enjoy  forgiveness." 
Conviction  of  sin  then,  whether  it  have  any  thing  holy  in  it,  or 
not,  is  necessary,  not,  I  presume,  as  a  qualification  recommending 
the  sinner  to  the  divine  favour,  but  as  that  without  which  believ- 
ing in  Jesus  were  in  its  own  nature  impossible.  Such  are  my 
views  as  to  the  necessity  ©fa  new  heart  ere  the  sinner  can  come 
to  Christ.  The  joy  that  the  unregenerate  sinner  can  receive 
*'  presently  as  he  stands"  is  anything  but  that  which  is  afforded  by 
the  good  news  of  salvation  to  the  chief  of  sinners. 

I  am  yours,  &c. 


T.KTTFJI  IX. 


OM  CERTAIN  NEW  TESTAMENT  PRACTICE 


My  dear  Friend, 

That  there  are  serious  Christians  who  have  leaned  to  the  Sandc- 
inanian  system  1  have  no  doubt  ;  and  in  people  of  this  description 
I  have  seen  things  worthy  of  imitation.  It  has  appeared  to  me 
that  there  is  a  greater  diUgence  in  endeavouring  to  understand 
the  scriptures,  and  a  stricter  regard  to  what  they  are  supposed  to 
contain,  than  among  many  otlier  professors  of  Christianity.  They 
do  not  seem  to  trifle  with  either  principle  or  practice  in  the  man- 
ner that  many  do.  Even  in  those  things  wherein  they  appear  to 
me  to  misunderstand  the  scriptures,  there  is  a  regard  towards 
tjicm  which  is  worthy  of  imitation.  There  is  something  even 
m  their  rigidness,  which  I  prefer  before  that  trifling  with  truth 
which,  among  other  professing  Christians  often  passes  under  the 
name  of  liberality. 

These  concessions,  however,  do  not  respect  those  who  have 
gone  entirely  into  the  system,  so  as  to  have  thoroughly  imbibed 
its  spirit  ;  but  persons  who  have  manifested  a  considerable  par- 
tiality in  favour  of  the  doctrine.  Take  the  denomination  as  a 
whole,  and  it  is  not  among  them  you  can  expect  to  see  the  Chris- 
tian practice  of  the  New  Testament  exemplified.  You  *vill  find 
them  very  punctilious  in  some  things  ;  but  very  defective  in  oth- 
ers. Religion,  as  exhibited  by  them,  resembles  a  rickety  child, 
whose  growth  is  confined  to  certain  parts  :  it  wants  that  lovely 
uniformity,  or  proportion,  which  constitutes  the  beauty  of  holiness. 


460  ON  CHRISTIAN  PRACTICES.  [Letter  IX. 

Some  of  the  followers  of  Mr.  Sandeman,  who,  in  his  life  time, 
formed  a  society  in  St.  Marlin's-legrand,  London,  and  published 
an  account  of  what  they  call  {ho\r  Christian  practices,  acknowl- 
edge that  the  command  of  washing  one  another's  feet  is  binding 
''only  when  it  can  be  an  act  of  kindness  to  do  so,"  and  that 
though  there  be  neither  precept  nor  precedent  Cot  family-prayer  ^ 
yet  "  it  seems  necessary  for  maintaining  the  fear  of  God  in  a  fam- 
ily." They  proceed,  however,  to  judge  those  who  insist  on  fam- 
ily-prayer and  the  first  day  sabbath,  while  they  disregarded  the 
feasts  of  charity,  the  holy  kiss,  &c.  as  persons  "  influenced  to  their 
religious  practices,  not  by  the  fear  of  God,  the  authority  of  Christ, 
or  the  Spirit  of  truth."  It  is  easy  to  see,  from  hence,  what  kind 
of  Christian  practice  that  is  by  which  these  people  are  distinguish- 
ed.* 

A  punctilious  adherence  to  the  letter  of  scripture  in  some  ca- 
ses commendable,  even  though  it  may  extend  to  the  tithing  of  mint 
and  cummin:  but  in  others  it  would  lead  j'ou  aside  from  the  mind 
of  Christ  ;  and  to  pursue  any  thing  to  the  neglect  of  Jjtdgment, 
mercy,  and  the  love  of  God,  is  dangerous  in  the  extreme. 

it  has  long  appeared  to  me,  that  a  great  many  errors  have  arisen 
from  applying  to  moral  obligations,  the  principle  which  is  proper 
in  obedience  to  positive  institutions .  By  confounding  these,  and 
giving  to  both  the  name  nf  ordinances,  the  New  Testament  becomes 
little  more  than  ritual,  and  religion  is  nearly  reduced  to  a  round  qf 
mechanical  performances. 

The  distinction  of  obedience  into  moral  and  positive  has  been 
made  by  the  ablest  writers  of  almost  every  denomination,  and 
must  be  made  if  we  would  understand  the  scriptures.  Without  it 
we  should  confound  the  eternal  standard  of  right  and  wrong  given 
to  Israel  at  Sinai,  (the  sum  of  which  is  the  love  of  God  and  our 
neighbour,)  with  the  body  of  "carnal  ordinances  imposed  on  them 
until  the  time  of  reformation."  We  should  also  confound  those 
precepts  of  the  New  Testament  which  arise  from  the  relations  we 
sustain  to  God  and  one  another,  with  those  that  arise  merely  from 
the  sovereign  will  of  the  legislator,  and  could  never  have  been 

*  I  have  nat  seen  this  pamphlet,  but  have  taken  a  few  quotations  fropj  it, 
contained  in  Backus's  Discount  on  Faith  and  its  injiuence. 


l.trTtulX]  ON  CHRISTIAN  TRACTICES.  4C1 

known  but  for  his  having  expressly  enjoined  them.  Concernin<,' 
the  former,  an  inspired  writer  does  not  scruple  to  refer  the  prim- 
itive Christians  to  thnt  sense  of  right  and  wron*  which  it  implanted 
in  the  minds  of  men  in  general  ;  saying,  Wluitsoevrr  things  art 
TRUE,  whatsoever  things  are  honest,  u-hatsoever  things  are  just, 
ri'hatsoeier  things  are  pi'iir.,  zehatsoever  things  are  lovelv,  whatso- 
ever things  are  of  <;oOD  HFPORT  ;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if 
there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things.  But  concerning  the  lat- 
ter, he  directs  their  uliolo  attention  to  the  will  of  Christ.  M'ow  I 
praise  you  brethren  that  ijon  remember  me  in  all  things,  and  keep 
THE  oRr)iNANcFs  OS  /  delivered  them  unto  you. — /  received  of  the 
Ijord  that  nhich  also  I  delivered  uJito  you,  &c.  The  one  is  com- 
manded because  it  i?  right ;  the  other  is  right  because  it  is  com 
manded.  The  great  principles  of  the  first  are  of  perpetual  obliga- 
tion, and  know  no  other  change  than  that  which  arises  from  the 
▼aryins  of  relations  and  conditions  ;  but  those  of  the  last  may  be 
binding  at  one  period  of  time,  and  utterly  abolished  at  another. 

We  can  clearly  perceive  that  it  were  inconsistent  with  the  per- 
fections of  God  not  to  have  required  us  to  love  him  and  one  anoth 
er,  or  to  have  allowed  of  the  contrary.  Children  also  must  needs 
be  required  to  obey  (heir  parents ;  for  this  is  right.  But  it  is  not 
thus  in  positive  institutions.  Whatever  wisdom  there  may  be  in 
them,  and  whatever  discernment  in  us,  we  could  not  have  known 
them  had  they  not  been  expre?sly  revealed;  nor  are  they  even 
enforced  as  being  in  themselves  right,  but  merely  from  the  author- 
ity of  the  lawgiver.  Of  them  we  may  say.  Had  it  pleased  GoJ,  he 
might  in  various  instances  have  enjoined  the  opposites.  But  ol 
the  other  we  are  not  allowed  to  suppose  it  possible  or  consistent 
with  rigl>teo\isness  for  God  to  have  required  an\'  thing  different 
from  that  which  he  has  required.  The  obligation  of  man  to  love 
and  obey  his  Creator  must  have  Ijcco  coeval  with  his  existence  ; 
but  it  was  not  till  he  had  planteil  a  garden  in  Eden,  and  there  put 
the  man  whom  he  had  formed,  and  expressly  prohibited  the  fruit 
of  one  of  the  trees  on  pain  of  death,  that  he  rame  under  n  positive 
law. 

The  use  to  be  made  of  this  distinction  in  ilic  present  contro 
versy  is,  to  judge  in  what  cases  we  are  to  look  for  expTr<!i<  precept  or 


462  ON  CHRISTIAN  PRACTICES.  [Letter  IX. 

example,  and  inwhat  cases  we  are  not  to  look  for  them.  Mr.  Brain- 
wood  very  properly  observes,  "  That  which  is  morally  good  in  its 
own  nature  is  a  bounden  duty,  although  it  shoald  not  be  particu- 
larly commanded  or  exemplified  in  all  the  word  of  God."*  In 
obedience  of  this  description  there  is  not  that  need  of  minute  rules 
and  examples  as  in  the  other ;  but  merely  of  general  principles 
which  naturally  lead  to  all  the  particulars  comprehended  under 
them. 

To  require  express  precept  or  example,  or  to  adhere  in  all  ca- 
ses to  the  literal  sense  of  those  precepts  which  are  given  us,  in 
things  of  a  moral  nature,  would  greatly  mislead  us.  We  may  by 
a  disregard  of  that  for  which  there  is  no  express  precept  orprece« 
dent,  omit  what  is  manifestly  right ;  and  by  an  adhereace  to  the 
letter  of  scriptural  precepts,  overlook  the  spirit  of  them,  and  do 
that  which  is  manifestly  wrong. 

If  we  will  do  nothing  without  express  precept  or  precedent,  we 
must  build  no  places  for  Christian  worship,  form  no  societies  for 
Tisiting  and  relieving  the  afflicted  poor,  establish  no  schools,  en- 
dow no  hospitals,  nor  contribute  any  thing  towards  them.,  nor  any 
thing  towards  printing  or  circulating  the  holy  scriptures.  Wheth- 
er any  person  who  fears  God  would  on  this  ground  consider  him- 
self excused  from  these  duties,  I  cannot  tell:  it  is  on  no  better 
ground,  however,  that  duties  of  equal  importance  have  been  dis- 
regarded ;  especially  those  of  family-prayer,  and  the  sanctifcation 
of  the  Lord's-day. 

In  Mr.  Sandeman's  time  it  was  allowed,  that  "  though  there 
were  neither  precept  nor  precedent  for  family  prayer,  yet  it  seem- 
ed necessary  for  maintaining  the  fear  of  God  in  a  family.^'  But 
this  concession  being  at  variance  with  more  favourite  principles, 
seem?  to  have  meant  mothing.  It  is  said  that  family  prayer  has 
long  been  disregarded  by  many  who  drink  the  deepest  into  the 
doctrine.  With  them,  therefore,  the  maintaining  of  "  the  fear  of 
God  in  a  family,"  seems  to  be  given  up.  This  fact  has  operated 
much  against  the  denomination,  in  the  esteem  of  serious  Chris- 
tians ;  by  whom  they  are  considered  as  little  other  than  a  body  of 

*  Letters,  &c.  p.  42. 


Lktter  IX.;  ON  CHRISTIAN  PRACTICES.  463 

worldly  men.  Of  late,  the  system  has  been  improved,  instead 
of  owning,  as  formerly,  that  *'  the  fear  of  God  seemed  to  require 
(his  duty,"  it  is  now  held  to  he  unlawful,  providod  any  part  of  the 
family  he  unbeliever^,  seeinfj;  it  is  holding  conununion  with  them. 
On  the  same  principle,  unbelievers,  it  is  said,  are  not  allowed  to 
)oin  in  public  prayers  ami  praise,  unless  it  be  in  an  adjoinins;  room, 
or  with  sonie  kind  of  partition  between  them  and  the  believers. 
In  short,  it  is  maintained,  that  "we  ought  only  to  join  in  prayer 
and  praise  with  those  with  whom  we  partake  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per."* Such  are  the  consequences  of  confounding  things  moraj 
with  things  positive  or  ceremonial. 

We  have  no  account  of  any  particular  injunctions  given  to 
Abraham  respecting  the  ordering  of  his  family.  God  had  said  to 
him  in  general.  Walk  before  me  and  be  thou  perfect  ;  and  which, 
as  to  things  of  this  nature,  was  sufficient.  I  know  Abraham, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  he  will  command  his  children,  and  hie  house- 
hold after  him,  that  they  should  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and 
do  justice  and  judgment.  Can  a  child  be  brought  up  in  the  nur- 
ture and  admonition  of  the  Lord  when  it  never  hears  its  parents 
pray  for  it  ?  Paul  would  not  have  eaten  the  Lord's  supper  with 
the  ship's  company;  but  he  made  no  scruple  of  "giving  thanks 
to  God  in  presence  of  them  all"  at  a  common  meal  ;  and  this,  I 
presume,  without  any  partition  between  his  company  and  their?; 
or  so  much  as  a  mental  reservation  in  respect  to  the  latter.  To 
join  with  unbelievers  in  what  is  not  their  duty,  is  to  become  par- 
fakers  of  other  men's  sins  :  but  to  allow  them  to  join  with  us  in 
what  is  their  duty,  is  not  so.  The  believer  is  not  at  liberty  to 
join  in  the  prayer  of  unbelief:  but  the  unbeliever  is  at  liberty,  il 
he  can,  to  join  in  the  prayer  of  faith.  To  deny  him  this  were  to 
deny  him  the  right  ot  becoming  a  believer,  and  of  doing  that  which 
every  one  ought  to  do.  We  ought  to  pray  for  such  things  as  both 
believers  and  unbelievers  stand  in  need  of:  if  the  latter  unite  with 
us  in  desire,  it  is  well  for  them  ;  if  not,  the  guilt  remains  with 
themselves  and  not  with  us. 

The  sanctif  cation  of  the  Lord's  day  is  said  to  be  very  generally 
disregarded  among  the  admirers  of  this  system.     Having  met,  and 

'*  Sec  Braidwood's  Letters,  pp.  31— 4«. 


164  OxV  CHRISTIAN   PRACTICES.  [LErrKRlX. 

kept  the  ordinances,  they  seem  to  have  done  with  religion  for  that 
day,  and  feel  at  liberty  to  follow  any  amusement  or  worldly  occu- 
pation during  the  remainder  of  it.  This  is  the  Christian  liberty  ; 
find  the  opposite  is  pharisaism  ! 

So  far  as  relates  to  its  being  a  day  appointed  for  Christian  wor- 
ship, rather  thrio  the  seventh  j  that  is  to  say,  so  far  as  it  is  pos- 
itive, the  keeping  of  it  is  amply  supported  by  scripture  precedent  : 
but  as  to  keeping  the  day  holy  to  the  Lord,  this,  being  moral,  h 
left  to  be  inferred  from  general  principles.  This  is  the  case  as  to 
the  manner  of  attending  to  all  positive  institutions.  No  injunc- 
tions were  laid  on  the  churches  with  respect  to  their  keeping  the 
Lord's  supper  in  a  holy  mmner  ;  yet  in  the  neglect  of  this  lay 
the  sin  of  the  church  at  Corinth.  And  the  reasoning  which  the 
Apostle  used  to  convince  them  of  their  sin  applies  to  the  case  in 
hand.  He  argues  from  the  ordinance  of  breaking  bread  being 
the  Lord's  supper,  that  turning  it  into  their  own  supper  was  ren- 
dering it  null  and  void  :*  and  by  parity  of  reasoning  it  follows 
from  the  first  day  of  the  week  being  the  Loiid's  day,  that  to  do 
oUK  OWN  work,  find  our  own  pleasure,  or  speak  our  own  words 
on  that  day  is  to  make  it  void.  Of  the  first  he  declared,  This  is 
not  to  eat  the  Lord's  supper  ;  and  of  the  last  he  would,  on  the  same 
principle  have  declared,  This  is  not  to  keep  the  Lord's  day. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  do  every  thing  that  is  commanded  in 
the  New  Testament,  according  to  the  letter  of  the  precept,  we 
shall  in  many  cases  overlook  the  true  intent  of  it,  and  do  that  which 
is  manifestly  wrong. 

The  design  of  our  Lord's  precepts  on  prayer  and  alms-giving 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  is  to  censure  a  spirit  of  ostentation  in 
these  duties  ;  but  a  strict  conformity  to  the  letter  of  them  would 
excuse  us  from  all  social  prayer,  and  public  contributions. 

The  design  of  the  precept,  Resist  not  evil ;  but  if  a  man  smite 
thee  on  the  one  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also,  is  to  prohibit  all 
private  or  selfish  resentment,  and  to  teach  us  that  we  ought  rather 

*  1  am  aware  that  TriEiR  own  bdppkr  has  heeu  imdorslooJ  as  referring 
to  the  lOVE  FBASTS;  but  the  reaaouing  of  the  Apostle  seems  to  me  to  admit 
of  no  such  meaning.  How  could  he  accuse  them  of  making  void  the  Lord's 
supper,  if  it  were  notth*  Lortl'g  supper  that  they  were  sating? 


r.ETTERlX.)  ON  CmUSTlAN  PRACTICF:S.  465 

to  suffor  wrong  than  go  about  to  revenge  an  injury.  Who  does 
not  admire  the  conduct  of  the  noble  Athenian,  who,  in  a  council  of 
war  held  for  the  common  safely  of  the  country,  when  the  Spartan 
chief  menaced  him  with  his  cane,  crieil,  "Strike;  bvt  hear 
ME  !"  Such,  in  effect,  has  been  the  lanj^uaj^e  of  the  martyrs  of  Je- 
sus in  all  ages  ,  and  such  is  the  spirit  of  the  precept.  But  to  con- 
tend for  a  literal  ro!n[»liance  with  it  were  to  reflect  on  the  conduct 
of  Christ  himself,  who,  when  smitten  before  the  high  priest,  did 
not  so  exemplify  it   but  remonstnted  against  the  injury. 

If  the  design  of  our  Lord,  in  forbidding  us  to  lai/  up  treasures  on 
earth,  were  absolutely  and  in  all  cases,  to  prohibit  the  increase  of 
property,  it  was  his  design  to  overthrow  what  the  scri()tures  ac- 
knowledge as  a  dictate  of  nature,  namel}',  the  duty  of  parents  to 
provide  for  their  children.*  True  it  is,  that  men  may  hoard 
wealth  in  order  to  enrich  and  aggrandize  their  families  to  the 
neglect  of  present  duty  toward  the  poor  anri  toward  tlio  cause  of 
God;  but  this  is  the  abuse  of  the  principle,  and  ought  to  be  cor- 
rected, and  not  the  principle  itself  destroyed.  Only  let  our  own 
interest,  and  that  of  our  children,  be  pursued  in  subordination  t<> 
God,  and  in  consistenct/  with  other  dudes,  and  all  will  be  right. 
The  contrary  practice  would  load  the  industrious  poor,  and  pre- 
vent their  ever  rising  above  their  present  condition,  while  it 
screened  the  indolent  rich,  who  might  ex[)end  the  whoje  of  their 
income,  in  selt'-gratification,  provided  they  did  not  increase  theii 
capital. 

Nor  can  any  good  reason  be  given,  that  1  know  of,  why  we 
should  understand  this  precept  as  prohibiting  in  all  cases  the  in 
crease  of  property,  any  more  than  that  of  "  selling  what  we  have 
and  giving  alm>;,"  as  absolutely  forbidding  us  to  rf^am  it.  To  b(:: 
consistent,  the  advocates  of  this  interpretation  should  dispose  oJ 
all  their  property,  and  distrib\ite  it  among  the  poor.  In  other 
words,  they  should  abolish  all  distinctions  of  rich  and  poor  so  far 
as  concern  themselves  ;  not  only  of  the  verij  rich  and  very  poor, 
but  all  distinction  whatever,  and  be  perfectly  on  an  equality. 
When  they  shall  do  lliis,tlioy  will  at  loasf  prnvf  themselves  to  be 

"  ^  Cor.  xi.  14. 
Vol.   III.  .^9 


46G  ON  CHRISTIAN  PRACTICES.  [Letter  IX. 

sincere,  and   impart   a  weiglit   to   their  censures    against  others 
which  at  present  they  do  not  possess. 

It  was  not  our  Lord's  design  in  this  partial  manner  to  lop  off  the 
branches  of  a  worldly'  spirit  ;  but  to  strike  at  the  root  of  it.  To 
tmj  vp  treasures  on  earth  denotes  the  desire  of  amassing  wealth, 
that  we  may  he  great,  and  shine,  or  in  some  way  consume  it  upon 
our  lusts  ;  and  herein  consists  the  evil.  There  is  as  great  a  dif- 
ference between  a  ch:*»racter  who  acts  on  this  principle,  and  one 
whom  God  prospers  in  the  path  of  duty,  and  in  full  exercise  of 
benevolence  toward  all  about  him,  as  between  one  who  engages  in 
the  chase  of  worldly  applause,  and  another  who,  seeking  the  good 
of  those  around  him,  must  needs  be  respected  and  loved. 

The  evil  which  arises  from  such  interpretations,  whatever  be 
their  tendency,  does  not  consist  in  throwing  civil  society  into  a 
state  of  disorder ;  for  though  men  m;iy  admit  them  in  theory,  yet 
they  will  contrive  some  method  of  practically  evading  them,  and 
reconcile  their  consciences  to  it.  The  mischief  lies  in  the  hypoc- 
risy, self  deception,  and  unchristian  censures  upon  others  to  which 
they  give  occasion. 

Much  has  been  spoken  and  written  on  "  observing  all  things, 
which  Christ  hath  commanded  us,"  and  on  the  authority  of  apos- 
tolic example.  Both  are  literally  binding  on  Christians  in  matters 
of  positive  institution,  and  in  things  moral  the  spirit  or  design  of 
them  is  indispensable:  but  to  enforce  a  literal  conformity  in  many 
cases  would  be  to  defeat  the  end,  and  reduce  obedience  to  un- 
meaning ceremony. 

In  eastern  countries,  the  washing  of  the  feet,  after  the  toils  of  a 
journey,  was  a  common  and  necessary  refreshment ;  and  our  Lord, 
to  teach  his  disciples  in.  love  to  serve  one  another,  took  upon  him- 
self the  humble  office  of  a  servant,  and  washed  their  feet ;  enjoin- 
ing upon  them  to  do  (hat  to  one  another  which  he  had  done  to 
them.  But  to  conform  to  this  custom  where  it  is  not  practised, 
nor  considered  as  necessary  to  be  done  by  any  one,  is  to  defeat 
the  end  of  the  precept  by  substituting  a  form  in  the  place  of  hum- 
ble  and  affectionate  service.  We  may  wash  the  saints'  feet,  and 
neglect  to  dry  their  clothes,  or  to  administer  necessary  comfort  to 
them  when  cold  and  weary.     If,  in  commands  of  this  nature,  nv 


Letter  V.j  ON  CHRISTIAN  PRACTICES.  467 

reg-ard  is  to  be  had  to  times,  place?,  and  circumstances,  wliy  do 
Sandemanians  allow  it  tu  be  biiidiiiti  ''  onhj  wiuii  it  can  be  nn  act 
of  kindness  to  do  so  ?" 

It  was  customary  in  the  east,  and  <till  is  so  in  many  ronnlries, 
for  men  to  express  atTection  to  radi  other  by  a  kiss ;  and  the  apos- 
tles directed  that  thi>  common  mode  of  s;dii(ation  should  be  used 
religiously.  Hut  in  a  country  where  the  practice  is  principally 
confmcd  to  the  expression  of  love  between  the  sexes,  or  at  most 
among  relations,  it  is  much  mure  liable  to  misconstruction  and 
abuse  ;  and  being  originally  a  human  custofn,  where  that  custom 
ceases,  though  the  spirit  (tf  the  precept  is  biuding,  yet  the  form  of 
it,  I  conceive,  is  not  so. 

For  a  man  to  have  his  hcnd  uncovei-ed  was  once  the  commonly 
received  sign  of  his  authority,  and  as  such  was  enjoined  :  but  with 
us  it  is  a  sign  of  subjection.  If  therefore,  we  are  obliged  to  wear 
any  sign  of  the  one  or  of  the  other  in  our  religious  assemblies,  it 
requires  to  be  reversed. 

The  Apostle  taught  that  it  was  a  shame  for  a  man  to  wear  lon^; 
hair  like  a  woman,  not  that  he  would  have  concerned  himself 
about  the  length  of  the  hair,  this  being  a  distinctive  mark  of  the 
sexes,  he  appealed  to  nature  itself  against  their  being  confounded  ; 
that  is,  against  a  man's  appearance  in  the  garb  of  a  woman. 

In  the  primitive  times  Christians  had  their  love  feasts :  they  do 
not  appear,  however,  to  have  been  a  divine  appointment,  but  the 
mere  spontaneous  expressions  of  mutual  afTection  ;  as  when  break- 
ing bread  from  house  to  house,  they  did  eat  their  meat  irilh  glad- 
ness and  singleness  of  heart.  While  these  feasts  were  conducted 
with  propriety,  all  was  well  ;  but  in  time  they  were  abused,  and 
then  they  were  mentioned  in  language  not  very  respectful,  These 
are  spots  in  yovr  feasts  of  charily.  Had  they  been  of  divine  in- 
stitution, it  was  not  their  being  abused  that  would  have  drawn 
forth  such  language.  The  Lord's  supper  was  abused  as  well  as 
they  ;  but  the  abuse  in  that  case  was  corrected,  and  tiie  ordinance 
itself  reinculcated. 

These  brief  remarks  are  intended  to  prove  (hat,  in  the  above 
particulars,  Mr.  Sandeman  and  his  followers  have  mistaken  the 
true  intent  of  Christ  and  his  aposlles.     But  whether  it  be  so  or 


.IQ<^  ON  CHRISTIAN  PRACTICKS.  [Letter  IX. 

not,  the  proportion  of  zeal  which  is  expendet]  upon  them  is  far 
beyond  what  their  inDportance  requires.  If,  as  a  friend  to  believ- 
ers' baptism,  I  cherish  an  overweening  conceit  of  myself,  and  of 
my  denomination,  confining  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  it,  and  shut- 
ting my  eyes  against  the  excellencies  of  others,  am  I  not  carnal  ? 
The  Jews,  in  the  time  of  Jeremiah,  thought  themselves  very  se- 
cure on  account  of  tlieir  forms  and  priviliges.  Pointing  to  the  sa- 
cred edifice,  and  its  divinely  instituted  worship,  they  exclaimed, 
The  temple  of  the  Lord,  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  the  temple  of  the 
Lord  are  these :  but  were  they  not  carnal?  In  how  many  w^ays, 
alas   are  poor  blind  mortals  addicted  to  err! 

When  the  reflecting  Christian  considers  what  contentions  have 
been  maintained  about  this  nature,  whai  divisions  have  been  pro- 
duced, and  whrit  accusations  have  been  preferred  against  those  who 
stand  aloof  from  such  strifes,  as  though  they  did  not  so  much  as 
profess  to  observe  all  things  which  Christ  has  commanded,  he  will 
drop  a  tear  of  pity  ovar  human  weakness.  But  when  he  sees  men 
so  scrupulous  in  such  matters  that  they  cannot  conscientiously  be 
present  at  any  worship  but  their  own,  yet  making  no  scruple  of 
joining  in  theatrical  and  other  vain  amusements,  he  will  be  shock- 
ed, and  must  needs  suspect  something  worse  than  weakness  ; 
something  which  strains  at  a  gnat,  but  can  swallow  a  camel ; 
something,  in  short,  which,  however  good  men  may  have  been 
carried  away  by  it,  can  hardly  be  conceived  to  have  had  its  origin 
in  a  good  man's  mind. 

I  am  yours,  &c. 


TJ/rTER  \ 


*N    INQUIRY   INTO    RHE   ^*RI^'CIPLES  ON    WHICH    THE  AFOSTLKS  I'HO- 
CEEDED    IN  FORMING    AND    ORUANIZINr.    rHRI<:TIAN    THURCHKS. 


Vy  Dpur  Friend, 

You  need  not  be  told  of  the  fierce  disputes  which  were  tirst  ;>gi- 
tated  by  the  leaders  of  this  denomination,  and  which  have  since 
extended  to  others  besides  those  who  choose  to  be  called  after 
their  names,  concerning  the  order,  gOFerntnent,  and  discipline  of 
gospel  churches.  To  write  upon  every  minute  practice  found  in 
the  New  Testament  would  be  to  bewilder  ourselves  and  perplex 
the  subject.  If  we  can  ascertain  the  principles  on  which  the 
apostles  proceeded  in  all  they  did,  it  will  answer  a  much  better 
purpose. 

For  me  to  contend  for  an  Erastian  latitude  in  matters  of  church 
government  and  discipline,  or  to  imagine  that  no  divine  directions 
are  left  us  on  the  subject,  but  that  the  church  must  be  modelled 
and  governed  according  to  circumstances.  This  were  to  open  a 
door  to  every  corruption  that  human  ingenuity  and  depravity  might 
devise.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  no  less  wide  of  the  truth  to 
consider  the  whole  which  is  left  us  as  a  system  of  ordinances,  or 
positive  institutions,  requiring  in  all  cases  the  most  literal  and 
punctilious  observance.  Such  n  view  of  the  subject,  among  other 
evil  consequences,  must  introduce  perpetual  discord  ;  seeing  it 
aims  to  establish  things  from  the  New  Testament  which  are  not 
in  it. 

It  may  be  thought  that  in  reasoning  thus  I  adopt  the  princples  of 
the  Epitcopalianf  against  the  Puritans  who  denied  the  necessity  of 


470  ON  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT  [Letter  X. 

express  precept  or  precedent  from  the  scriptures,  which  the  others 
pleaded  for.  Had  Episcopalians  only  denied  this  in  respect  of  moral 
duties,  I  should  have  thought  them  in  the  right.  It  certainl}'  is  not 
necessary  that  we  should  have  express  precept  or  precedent  for  ev- 
ery duty  we  owe  to  our  neighbours,  but  merely  that  we  keep  within 
the  general  principle  of  doing  unto  others  as  we  would  that  they 
should  do  unto  us.  And  the  same  may  be  said  of  various  duties 
toward  God.  If  in  our  thoughts,  affections,  prayers,  or  praises, 
we  be  influenced  by  love  to  his  name,  though  his  precepts  will  be 
our  guide,  as  to  the  general  modes  in  which  love  shall  be  express- 
ed, yet  we  shall  not  need  *hem  for  every  thing  pertaining  to  par- 
ticular duties.  When  Josiah,  on  hearing  the  book  of  the  law  read 
to  him,  rent  his  clothes  and  wept,  it  was  not  in  conformity  with  any 
particular  precept  or  precedent,  but  the  spontaneous  effusion  of 
love.  The  questions  between  the  Episcopalians  and  the  Puritans 
did  not  relate  to  moral  obligations,  but  to  "  rites  and  ceremonies," 
in  divine  worship,  which  the  church  claimed  a  "  power  to  de- 
cree." Hence  it  was  common  for  them  to  urge  it  upon  the  Puri- 
tans, that  if  their  principles  were  fully  acted  upon  they  must  be- 
come Antipajdobaptists  ;  or,  as  they  called  them  Anabaptists  ;*  a 
proof  this,  not  only  that  in  their  judgment  there  was  neither  pre- 
cept nor  precedent  in  the  scriptures  in  favour  of  paedobaptism,but 
that  it  was  in  matters  of  positive  institution  that  they  claimed  to  act 
without  either. 

The  question  is.  On  what  principles  did  the  apostles  proceed  in 
forming  and  organizing  Christian  churches  positive  or  moral?  If 
the  former,  they  must  have  been  furnished  with  an  exact  model  or 
pattern,  like  that  which  was  given  to  Moses  in  the  mount,  and 
have  done  all  things  according  to  it  :  but  if  the  latter,  they  would 
only  be  furnished  with  general  principles,  comprehending,  but  not 
specifying,  a  great  variety  of  particulars. 

That  the  framing  of  the  tabernacle  was  positive  there  can  be  no 
doubt  ;  and  that  a  part  of  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament  is  so, 
is  equally  evident.  Concerning  this  the  injunctions  of  the  Apos- 
tles are  minute  and  very  express.     Be  ye  followers  (imitators)  of 

*  Preface  to  Bishop  Sanderson's  Sermons,  Sect.  23, 


Letter  X.]  AND  DISCIPLINE.  47 1 

me  as  I  aluo  am  of  Christ.  Now  I  praise  you,  brethren,  that  ye 
remember  me  in  all  things,  and  kceji  the  okdinances  as  I  delivered 
them  to  you. — For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also  I  de- 
livered unto  you.  IJut  were  we  to  aUein|it  to  ilr;nv  up  a  formula  ot 
church  government,  worship  and  discipline,  which  should  include 
any  thing  more  than  ^'eucral  outlines,  and  to  establish  it  upon  ex- 
press New -Testament  authorities,  we  should  attempt  what  is  im- 
practicablt'. 

Doubtless  the  apostles  acted  under  divine  direction  :  but  in 
things  of  a  moral  nature,  that  direction  consisted  not  in  provi- 
din£;  them  with  a  model  or  pattern,  in  the  manner  of  that  giyen  to 
Mose*.  but  in  furiushino;  them  with  general  principles,  and  enduing 
them  with  holy  wisdom  to  apply  them  as  occasions  required. 

We  learn,  from  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles,  that  the  first  churches 
were  congregations  of  faithful  men,  voluntarily  united  together  for 
the  statetl  ministration  of  the  word,  the  administration  of  Christian 
ordinances,  and  the  mutually  assisting  of  each  other  in  promoting 
the  cause  of  Christ ;  that  they  were  governed  by  bishops  and  dea- 
cons of  their  own  choosing;  that  a  bishop  was  an  overseer,  not  ol 
other  ministers,  but  of  the  flock  of  Cod  ;  that  the  government 
and  discipline  of  each  church  was  within  itself;  that  the  gifts  ol 
the  different  mend)ers  were  so  employed  as  to  conduce  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  body  ;  and  that  in  cases  of  disorder  every  proper  means 
was  used  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  Christ  and  reclaim  the  parly. 
These,  and  others  which  might  be  named,  are  what  J  mean  by 
qeneral  principles.  They  are  sometimes  illu.*trated  by  the  inci- 
dental occurrence  of  examples  ;  (which  examples  in  all  similai 
cases  are  binding  ;)  but  it  is  not  always  so.  That  a  variety  ol 
cases  occur  in  our  time  respecting  which  we  have  nothing  more 
than  general  principles  to  direct  us,  is  manifest  to  every  person  ol 
experience  and  rellcction.  We  know  that  churches  were  formed, 
officers  chosen  and  ordained,  and  prayer  and  praise  conducted 
with  "the  understanding,"  or  so  as  to  be  understood  by  others  ; 
but  in  what  particular  manner  they  proceeded  in  each,  we  are  not 
told.  We  have  no  account  of  the  formation  of  a  single  church,  no 
ordination  service,  nor  any  such  thing  as  a  formula  of  worship. 
We  arc  taught  to  sing  praises  to  Cod  in  psalms,  hymns,  and  spiri* 


472  O^"^  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT  [Letter  X. 

iial  songs,  but  have  no  inspired  tunes.  We  have  accounts  of  the 
election  of  church  officers  ;  but  no  mention  of  the  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding, or  how  they  ascertained  the  mind  of  the  church.  If  we 
look  for  express  precept  or  example  for  the  removal  of  a  pastor 
from  one  situation  to  another,  we  shall  find  none.  We  are  taught, 
however,  that  for  the  church  to  grow  unto  an  holy  temple  in  the 
Lord,  it  requires  to  he  Jitly  framed  together.  The  want  oi finesse 
in  a  connexion,  therefore,  especially  if  it  impede  the  growth  of 
the  spiritual  temple,  may  justify  a  removal.  Or  if  there  be  no 
want  of  fitness,  yet  if  the  material  be  adapted  to  occupy  a  more 
important  station,  a  removal  of  it  may  be  very  proper.  Such  a 
principle  may  be  misapplied  to  ambitious  and  interested  purposes; 
but  if  the  increase  of  the  temple  be  kept  in  view,  it  is  lawful,  and 
in  some  cases  attended  with  great  and  good  effects. 

This  instance  may  suffice  instead  of  a  hundred,  and  serves  to 
show  that  the  forms  and  orders  of  the  New-Testament  church, 
much  more  than  those  of  the  Old,  are  founded  on  the  reason  of 
things.  They  appear  to  be  no  more  than  what  men  possessed  of 
the  wisdom  from  above,  would,  as  it  were  instinctively,  or  of  their 
own  accord,  fall  into,  even  though  no  specifiic  directions  should 
be  given  them. 

That  such  were  the  principles  on  which  the  apostles  proceed- 
ed is  manifest  from  their  own  professions,  or  from  i)\G.  general  pre- 
cepts which  they  addressed  to  the  churches.  These  were  as  fol- 
lows :  Let  all  things  he  done  to  edifying. — Let  all  things  he  done 

DECKNTLY  AND  IN  ORDER. FolloXV    after  t/lC  things   that  MAKE  FOR 

PEACE,  and  things  wherewith  one  may  edify  another.  Whatever 
measures  had  a  tendency  to  build  up  the  church  of  God  and  indi- 
viduals in  their  most  holy  faith,  these  they  pursued.  Whatever 
measures  approved  themselves  to  minds  endued  with  holy  wis- 
dom as  fit  and  lovely,  and  as  tending,  like  good  discipline  in  an 
army,  to  the  enlargement  of  Christ's  kingdom,  these  they  followed, 
and  inculcated  on  the  churches.  And,  however  worldly  minds 
may  have  abused  the  principle  by  introducing  vain  customs  under 
the  pretence  of  decency,  it  is  th  it  which,  understood  in  its  simple 
and  original  sense,  must  still  be  the  test  of  good  order  and  Chris- 
tian discipline. 


LKTTEfi  X.]  AND  DISCIPLINE.  473 

The  discipline  of  the  primitive  churches  occupies  uo  prominent 
place  in  their  character.  It  m  not  that  ostentntious  thing  which, 
under  the  name  of  an  "ordinance,"  has  become  oflatc  a  mere 
bone  of  contention.  It  was  simply  the  carrying  into  effect  the 
great  principle  of  brotherly  love,  and  the  spirit  with  which  it  was 
exerriscH  was  that  eflonv-suifering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faithful- 
ness, and  (ii"i»kness. 

The  w.ty  in  which  the  apostles  actually  proceeded,  in  the  form- 
ing md  org;inizing  of  churches,  correspond?  with  these  statements. 
When  a  number  of  Christians  were  assembliul  together  in  the 
days  of  pentecost  they  were  the  tir«t  Christian  church.  But  at 
first  they  had  no  deacons,  and  probably  no  pastors,  except  the 
apostles  :  and  if  the  reason  of  things  had  not  required  it,  they 
might  have  continued  to  have  not)e.  But  in  the  course  of  things 
new  service  rose  upon  their  hands,  therefore  they  must  have  new 
servants  to  perform  it  ;*  for,  said  the  apostles,  It  is  not  Rf.ason' 
that  Tee  thould  leave  the  loord  of  Gody  and  serve  tables  :  -wherefore ^ 
hret/ircji,  look  ye  out  among  you  seven  men  of  honest  report,  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  tcisdom,  whom  we  may  appoint  over  this 
business.  In  this  proceeding  we  perceive  nothing  of  the  air  of  a 
ceremony,  nothing  like  that  of  punctilious  attention  lo  forms, 
which  marks  obedience  to  a  positive  in-titute  ;  but  merely  the 
conduct  of  men  endued  with  the  wisdom  from  above  ;  servants 
appointed  when  service  required  it,  and  the  number  of  the  one 
proportioned  to  the  quantity  of  the  other.  All  things  are  done 
decently  and  in  order  ;  all  things  are  done  to  edifying. 

In  the  course  of  things,  the  apostles,  who  had  supplied  the  place 
of  bishops,  or  pastors,  would  be  called  to  travel  into  other  parts  of 
the  world,  and  then  it  is  likely  the  church  at  .lerusalem  would 
have  a  bishop,  or  bishops  of  their  own.  As  the  number  of  dea- 
cons was  regulated  by  the  work  to  be  done,  so  would  it  be  by  bish- 
ops, both  in  this  and  in  other  churches.  A  large  church,  where 
much  service  was  to  be  done,  required  seven  deacons  ;  and  where 
they  abounded  in  numbers  and  spiritual  gifts  there  might  be  a  plu- 
rality of  pastors.  With  respect  to  us,  where  the  reason  of  thp 
things  exists,  that  is  where  there  are  churches  whose  numbers  r^ 

*  A  nFAcoN,  as  well  as  a  minister,  mpnn«  b  sfrvant. 
Vol..  III.  60 


474  ON  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT  [Letter  X. 

quire  it,  and  whose  ability  admits  of  it,  it  is  still  proper  :*  but  for 
a  small  church  to  have  more  pastors  than  one  is  as  unnecessary  a? 
to  have  seven  deacons.  Such  a  rule  must  favour  idleness,  and  con- 
fine useful  ministers  from  extending  their  labours.  To  place  two 
or  three  in  a  post  which  might  be  filled  by  one,  must  leave  many 
other  places  unoccupied.  Such  a  system  is  more  adapted  for  show 
than  for  promoting  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

It  may  serve  to  illustrate  and  simplify  the  subject  if  we  compare 
the  conduct  of  the  apostles  with  that  of  a  company  of  missionaries 
in  our  own  times.  What,  indeed,  was  an  apostle  but  an  inspired 
missionary  ?  Allowing  only  for  ordinary  Christian  missionaries 
being  uninspired,  we  shall  see  in  their  history  all  the  leading  char- 
acteristicC'  of  apostolic  practice. 

Conceive  of  a  church,  or  of  a  society  of  Christians  out  of  a  num- 
ber of  churches,  or  of"  any  two  agreeing  together,"  as  undertak- 
ing a  mission  among  the  heathen.  One  of  the  first  things  they 
would  attend  to  would  be  the  selection  of  suitable  missionaries  ; 
next  they  would  instruct  them  in  the  things  necessary  to  their  un- 
dertaking ;  and  after  this,  send  them  forth  to  preach  the  gospel. 
Such  exactly  was  the  process  of  our  Lord  towards  his  apostles. 
He  first  selected  them  ;  then,  during  his  personal  ministry,  in- 
structed them  ;  and,  after  his  resurrection,  gave  them  their  com- 
mission, with  a  rich  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  fit  them  for  their 
undertaking. 

The  missionaries  on  arriving  at  the  place  of  action  would  first 
unite  in  social  prayer  and  fellowship,  and  this  would  be  the  first 

*  I  sny  whose  ahilUy  admits  of  it :  for  there  is  equal  proof  from  the  New 
Testament  that  they  who  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel,  as  there 
is  of  a  plurality  of  elders.  But  the  zeal  for  the  latter  has  not  always  been  ac- 
companied by  a  zeal  for  the  former.  If  the  term  elder  must  be  upder&tood  to 
be  not  only  a  term  of  office,  but  of  the  pastoral  office  exclusively,  and  a  plu- 
lality  of  them  be  required,  why  is  not  a  plurality  of  them  supported  .'  The 
office  of  elder  in  those  churches  which  are  partial  to  the  system  is  little  more 
than  nominal :  for  while  an  elder  is  employed  like  other  men  in  the  necessa- 
ry cares  of  life,  he  cannot  ordinarily  fulfil  the  duHes  of  his  office.  Ao  man 
that  warrtth  in  this  warfare,  (unless  it  be  in  aid  of  a  poor  church,)  ought  tn 
entangle  himself  with  the  affairs  of  this  life ;  that  he  may  please  him  who  hath 
chosen  him  to  be  a  soldier. 


LettkrX.J  and  DISCirLINK.  475 

Christian  church.  Thus  the  apostlos,  and  those  wlio  iulherodto 
them,  first  met  in  an  upper  room  for  prayer,  preparatory  to  their 
attack  on  the  kingdom  of  Satan;  and  this  little  "band  of  abotit  an 
hundred  and  twenty"  formed  the  first  Christian  church  :  and  when 
others  were  converted  to  Christ  and  .joined  them,  they  are  said  to 
be ''added  to  the  church," 

Again  :  The  first  missionaries  to  a  heathen  coimtry  could  not  be 
chosen  by  those  to  whom  they  were  sent,  but  by  him  or  ihem 
who  sent  them  ;  nor  would  their  influence  be  confined  to  a  single 
congregation,  but,  by  a  kind  of  parental  authority,  would  extend 
to  all  the  societies  that  might  be  raised  by  means  of  their  labours. 
It  would  be  different  with  succeeding  ])astors,  who  might  be  raised 
up  from  among  tiie  converts  ;  they  would  of  course  be  chosen  by 
their  brethren,  and  their  authority  be  confined  to  those  who  elect- 
ed them.  Thus  the  apostles  were  not  constituted  such  by  the 
churches,  but  received  their  appointment  immediately  from  Christ ; 
nor  was  their  authority  limited  to  any  particular  church,  but  ex- 
tended to  all.  In  this  they  stand  distinguished  from  ordinary  pas- 
tors who  are  elected  by  the  churches,  and  whose  authority  is  con- 
fined to  the  churches  that  elected  them. 

Again  :  The  first  missionaries  to  a  heathen  country  would  be 
employed  in  the  planting  of  churches  wherever  proper  materials 
were  found  for  the  purpose  ;  and  if  the  work  so  increased  upon 
iheir  hands  as  to  be  too  much  for  them,  they  would  depute  others 
whom  God  should  gift  and  qualify,  like-minded  with  themselve.s, 
to  assist  them  in  it.  Some  one  person  at  least  of  this  description 
would  be  present  at  the  formation  and  organization  of  every 
church,  to  see  to  it  that  all  things  were  done  "  decently  and  in  or- 
der." And  if  there  were  any  other  churches  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, their  elders  and  messengers  would  doubtless  be  present, 
and,  to  express  their  brotherly  concurrence,  would  join  in  it. 
Thus  the  apostles  planted  churches;  and  when  elders  were  or- 
dained, the  people  chose  them,  and  they,  by  the  solemn  laying  on 
of  hands,  invested  them  with  the  office  :*  and  when  the  work  in- 
creased upon  their  hands,  they  appointed  such  men  as  Timothy 
and  Titus  as  evangelists,  to  "  set  things  in  order"  in  their  stead. t 

*    Arts  xiv  2?,.  -f  2  Tim.  il.  2.    Titus  i.  fi. 


476  <^N  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT  [Letter  X. 

In  these  ordinations,  a  Paul  or  a  Titus  would  preside ;  but  the 
other  elders  who  were  present  would  unite  in  brotherly  concur- 
rence, and  in  importuning  a  blessing  on  the  parties  :  and  hence 
there  would  be  the  Utying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery,  or 
elders. 

I  may  add,  though  it  does  not  immediately  respect  any  question 
here  at  issue,  If  the  first  missionaries,  and  those  appointed  by 
them,  planted  churches  set  them  in  order,  and  presided  at  the 
ordination  of  elders,  it  was  not  because  the  same  things  would  not 
have  been  valid  if  done  by  others,  but  because  they  would  not 
have  been  done.  Let  but  churches  be  planted,  set  in  order,  and 
scripturally  organized,  and  whether  it  be  by  the  missionaries  or 
succeeding  native  pastors,  all  is  good  and  acceptable  to  Christ. 
And  such,  I  conceive,  is  the  state  of  things  with  respect  to  the 
apostles  and  succeeding  ministers.  The  same  things  which  were 
done  by  the  apostles  were  done  by  others  appointed  by  them  ;  and 
had  they  been  done  by  elders  whom  they  had  not  appointed,  pro- 
vided the  will  of  Christ  had  been  properly  regarded,  they  would 
not  have  objected  to  their  validity.  This  is  certainly  true  in  some 
particulars,  and  I  see  not  why  it  should  not  be  in  all.  Paul  left  Tim- 
othy at  Ephesus  that  he  might  charge  some  that  they  taught  no 
other  doctrine:  but  if  the  Ephesian  teachers  had  been  themselves 
attached  to  the  truth,  neither  Paul  nor  Timothy  would  have  been 
offended  with  them  for  having  superceded  their  interference.  He 
also  left  Titus  in  Crete  to  set  in  order  the  things  that  were  want- 
ing, and  to  ordain  elders  in  every  city :  but  if  the  Cretians  them- 
selves had  had  sufficient  wisdom  and  virtue  to  have  regulated  their 
own  affairs  by  the  word  of  God,  I  believe  their  order  would  not  have 
been  reckoned  disorder.  Had  there  been  elders  already  ordained 
among  them  competent  to  assist  in  the  ordination  of  others,  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  general  tenor  of  apostolic  practice,  instead  of 
objecting  to  the  validity  of  their  proceedings,  both  Paul  and  Titus 
would,  though  absent  in  the  flesh,  have  been  with  them  in  the 
spirit,  joying  and  beholding  their  order,  and  the  steadfastness  of 
their  faith  in  Christ. 

The  sum  is,  that  church   government  and  discipline  are   not  a 
body  of  ceremonies  5  but  a  few  general  principles  and  examples. 


Lktier  X]  and  discipline.  477 

sufficient  for  all  practical  purposes,  but  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  those 
who,  in  New  Testiiment  directions,  expect  to  find  an  Old  Testa- 
ment ntujil.  It  is  not  dilficult  to  perceive  the  wisdom  of  God  in 
thus  varying  the  two  dispensations.  The  Jewish  church  was  an 
army  ol"  soldiers,  who  had  to  1^0  through  a  variety  of  forms  in 
learning  their  discipline  :  the  Christian  church  is  an  army  going 
forth  to  battle.  The  member?;  of  the  first  were  taught  punctil- 
ious obedience,  and  led  with  great  formality  through  a  variety  of 
religious  evolutions  :  but  those  of  the  last,  (though  they  also  must 
keep  their  ranks,  and  act  in  obedience  to  command  whenever  it 
is  given,)  are  required  to  attend,  not  so  much  to  the  mecha.iical 
as  to  the  mental,  not  so  much  to  the  minute  observations  of  foinis, 
as  to  the  spirit  and  design  of  them.  The  order  of  the  one  would 
almost  seem  to  be  appointed  for  order's  sake  :  but  in  that  of  the 
other  the  utility  of  every  thing  is  apparent.  The  obedience  of 
the  former  was  tliat  of  children  ;  the  latter  of  sons  arrived  at 
maturer  age. 

As  our  Saviour  abolished  the  Jewish  law  of  divorce,  and  redu- 
ced marriage  to  its  original  simplicity  ;  so,  having  abolished  the 
form  and  order  of  the  church  as  appointed  by  Mos'is,  he  reduc 
it  to  what,  as  to  its  first  principles,  it  was  from  the  beginning,  dnd 
to  what  must  have  corresponded  with  the  desires  of  believers  iv. 
every  age.  It  was  natural  for  "  the  sons  of  God"  in  the  days  of 
Seth  to  assemble  together,  and  "call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;" 
and  their  unnatural  fellowship  with  unbelievers  brought  on  the 
deluge.  And  even  under  the  Jewish  dispens.dion,  wicked  men, 
though  descended  from  Abraham,  were  not  considered  as  Israel- 
ites//irfecrf,  or  true  citizens  of  Zion.  The  friends  of  God  were 
then  the  "  companions  of  those  that  feared  him.'*  They  "  spak* 
often  one  to  another,"  and  assembled  for  mutual  edification. 
What  then  is  gospel  church  fellovvphip  hut  godliness  ramifi'^d,  or 
the  principle  of  holy  love  reduced  to  action  ?  There  is  scarcely  a 
precept  on  the  subject  of  church  discipline  but  what  may,  in  sub- 
stance, be  founfl  in  the  proverbs  of  Solomon. 

It  does  not  follow  from  hence  that  all  forms  of  worship  and 
'hurch  government  are  indifferent,  and  left  to  be  accommodated 
to  times,  places  and  cirrumstances,     The  principles  or  general 


470  t)N  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT  [Letter  X. 

outlines  of  things  are  marked  out,  and  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  de- 
viate from  them  ;  nor  are  they  to  be  filled  up  by  worldly  policy, 
but  by  a  pure  desire  of  carrying  them  into  effect  according  to  their 
true  intent :  to  which  may  be  added,  that,  so  far  as  they  are  ex- 
emplified in  the  New  Testament  it  is  our  duty  in  similar  cases  to 
follow  the  example. 

It  does  follow,  however,  that  scripture  precedent,  important  as 
it  is,  is  not  binding  on  Christians  in  things  of  a  moral  nature,  un- 
less the  REASON  of  the  thing  be  the  same  in  both  cases.  Of  this, 
proof  has  been  offered  in  Letter  IX,  relative  to  the  washing  of  the 
feet,  the  kiss  of  charity,  &c.  It  also  follows  that  in  attending  to 
positive  institutions  neither  express  precept  nor  precedent  is  ne- 
cessary in  what  respects  the  holy  manner  of  performing  them,  nor 
binding  in  regard  of  mere  accidental  circumstances,  which  do  not 
properly  belong  to  them.  It  required  neither  express  precept 
nor  precedent  to  make  it  the  duty  of  the  Corinthians  when  meet- 
ing to  celebrate  the  Lord's  supper,  to  do  it  soberly  and  in  the  fear 
of  God,  nor  to  render  the  contrary  a  sin.  There  are  also  cir- 
cumstances which  may  on  some  occasions  accompany  a  positive  in- 
stitution, and  not  on  others  ;  which  being,  therefore,  no  part  of  it 
are  not  binding.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  Lord's  supper  was  first  cel- 
ebrated with  unleavened  bread  ;  for  no  leaven  was  to  be  found  at 
the  time  in  all  the  Jewish  habitations  ;  but  no  mention  being  made, 
either  in  the  institution,  or  in  the  repetition  of  it  by  the  Apostle, 
we  conclude  it  was  a  mere  accidental  circumstance  no  more  be- 
longing to  the  ordinance  than  its  having  been  in  "  a  large  upper 
room."  It  is  a  fact,  too,  that  our  Lord  and  his  disciples  sat  in  a 
reclining  posture  at  the  supper,  after  the  manner  of  silting  at  their 
ordinary  meals  ;  yet  none  imagine  this  to  be  binding  upon  us.  It 
is  also  a  fact,  with  regard  to  the  time,  that  our  Saviour  first  sat 
down  with  his  disciples,  on  the  evening  of  iheffth  day  of  the 
week,  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed  ;  but  though  that  was  a 
memorable  night,  and  is  mentioned  by  the  apostle  in  connexion 
with  the  supper,  yet  no  one  supposes  it  to  be  binding  upon,  us  ; 
especially  as  we  know  it  was  afterwards  celebrated  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week  by  the  church  at  Troas. 


r^ETTCR  X.]  AND  DISCIPLlNt.  479 

Much  has  been  advanced,  however,  in  favour  of  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  as  exclusively  the  time  for  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  of  its  being  still  biiidini^  on  Christians.  A 
weekly  communication  might,  lor  any  thing  we  know,  be  the  gen- 
eral practice  of  the  first  churches  ;  and  certainly  there  can  be  no 
objection  to  the  thing  itself;  but  to  render  it  a  term  of  commun- 
ion, is  laying  bonds  in  things  wherein  Christ  has  laid  none.  That 
the  supper  was  celebrated  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  by  the 
church  at  Troas  is  certain  ;  that  it  was  so  every  first  day  of  the 
week,  is  possible,  perhaps  probable  ;  but  the  passage  does  rtot 
prove  that  it  was  so;  and  still  less,  as  Mr.  Braidwood  affirms,  thai 
"  it  can  oidy  be  dispensed  on  that  day."*  The  words  of  the  in- 
stitution are,  As  okte.n  as  yc  eat,  Lc.  without  determining  how  of- 
ten. Those  who  would  make  these  terms  so  indeterminate  as 
not  to  denote _/"rc^Hf«fy,  and  consequently  to  be  no  rule  at  all  as  to 
time,  do  not  sufficiently  consider  their  force.  The  term  "  often,'" 
we  all  know,  denotes  frequency  ;  and  "  as  often"  denotes  the  de- 
gree of  that  frequency  where  frequency  itself  is  not.  It  might  as 
well  be  said  that  the  words,  How  much  she  hath  glorified  herself, 
so  MUCH  torment  give  her,  convey  no  idea  of  Babylon  having  glo- 
rified herself  more  than  others,  but  merely  of  her  punishment 
being  proportioned  to  her  pride,  be  it  much  or  little. 

The  truth  appears  to  be  that  the  Lord's  supper  ought  to  be  fre- 
quently celebrated  ;  but  the  exact  time  of  it  is  a  circumstance 
which  does  not  belong  to  the  ordinance  itself. 

Similar  remarks  might  be  made  on  female  communion,  a  sub- 
ject on  which  a  great  deal  has  been  written  of  late  years  in  the 
baptismal  controversy.  Whether  there  be  express  precept  or 
precedent  for  it,  or  not,  it  is  of  no  consequence  :  for  the  distinc- 
tion of  sex  is  a  mere  circumstance  in  no  wise  affecting  the  qual- 
ifications required,  and  therefore  not  belonging  to  the  institution. 
It  is  of  ju6t  as  much  account  as  whether  a  believer  be  a  Jew  or  a 
Greek,  a  slave  or  a  free  man  ;  that  is,  it  is  of  no  account  at  all : 
For  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  iireeh,  bond  nor  free,  male  nor  fe- 
male ;  but  all  ore  one  in  Christ  Jesus.     Kxpresn  precept  or  prere- 

*  Letter?,  p.  A-i 


480  ON  CHURCH  GOVEPwNMfcNT  [Lktter  X. 

dent  might  as  %vell  be  demanded  for  the  parties  being  tall  or  low, 
black  or  white,  sickly  or  healty,  as  for  their  being  male  or  female. 
To  accommodate  the  spirit  of  New  Testament  practice  to  the 
fluctuating  manners  and  inclinations  of  men  is  certainly  what  ought 
not  to  be  :  but  neither  can  it  be  denied  that  many  of  the  apostol- 
ic practices  were  suited  to  the  state  of  things  at  the  time,  and 
would  not  have  been  what  they  were  if  circumstances  had  been 
different.  To  instance  in  their  proceedings  on  the  seventh  and 
first  days  of  the  week — It  is  well  known,  that  in  preaching  to  the 
Jews,  and  others  who  attended  with  them,  they  generally  took  the 
seventh  day  of  the  week  :*  the  reason  of  which  doubtless  was, 
its  being  the  day  in  which  they  were  to  be  met  with  at  their  syn- 
agogues. Hence  it  is  that  on  i\\Q  first  day  of  the  week  so  little  is 
said  of  their  preaching  to  unbelievers,  and  so  much  of  the  cel- 
ebrating of  Christian  ordinances,  which  are  represented  as  the 
specific  ol)ject  of  their  coming  together.!  But  the  same  motive 
that  induced  the  Apostles  to  preach  to  unbelievers  chiefly  on  the 
seventh  day  of  the  week  would,  in  our  circumstances,  have  indu- 
ced them  to  preach  to  them  on  ihe  first,  that  being  now  the  day  on 
which  they  ordinarily  assemble  together.  In  countries  where 
Christianity  has  so  far  obtained  as  for  the  legislature  to  respect 
the  first  day  of  the  week  as  a  day  of  rest,  instead  of  having  now 
and  then  an  individual  come  into  our  assemblies,  as  the  primitivp 
churches  had,  and  as  churches  raised  in  heathen  countries  must 
still  have,  we  have  multitudes  who  on  that  day  are  willing  to  hear 
the  word.  In  such  circumstances  the  apostles  would  have  preach- 
ed both  to  believers  and  unbelievers,  and  administered  Christian 
ordinances  all  on  the  same  day.  To  frame  our  worship  in  things 
of  this  nature  after  apostolic  example,  without  considering  the 
reasons  of  their  conduct,  is  to  stumble  in  darkness,  instead  of 
walking  as  the  children  of  the  light.  Yet  this  is  the  kind  of  apos- 
tolic practice  by  which  the  churches  have  been  teazed  and  divi, 
ded,  the  great  work  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  ungodly  neglec- 
ted, and  Christianity  reduced  to  litigious  trifling, 

*  Acts  xiii.  42.  xviii.  4.  xvi.  13.        1 1  Cor.  xi.  20.    Acta  xx.  7. 


LcTTKR  X.]  A\l)   DISCIPLINF..  481 

If  the  pnirlice  of  riiri>;t  aiul  his  apostles  be  in  n\\  ca^os  birid- 
int;  upon  Christians,  whether  the  reason  of  the  thing  he  the  same 
or  not,  why  ilo  they  not  «;at  the  Lonrs  supper  with  unleavened 
bread,  and  in  a  reclining  posture  ?  And  why  do  they  not  assemble 
together  merely  to  celebrate  this  ordinance,  and  that  on  a  Lord's 
day  rt'ening  ?  From  the  accounts  in  1  Cor.  xi.  20.  and  Acts  xx.  7. 
two  things  appear  to  be  evident — First  :  That  the  celebration  of 
the  Lord's  supper  was  the  apecijic  object  of  llie  coming  together, 
both  of  the  church  at  Corinth,  and  of  that  at  Troas  :  the  former 
came  together  (professc<lly)  to  cat  the  Lord's  supper  ;  the  latter 
are  said  to  liave  come  togethei-  to  break  bread.  Secondly  ;  That 
it  was  on  the  evening  of  the  day.  This  is  manifest  not  only  from 
its  being  called  the  Lonl's  supper,  l)ut  from  the  Corinlliians  ma- 
king it  their  own  sup[)er,  and  from  its  being  followed  at  Troas  by 
a  sermon  from  Paul  which  re{piired  ''lights,"  and  continued  till 
•*'  midnight." 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  church  at  either  Corinth  or  Troas 
had  no  other  »vorshi|)  (hiring  the  first  day  of  the  week  than  this  ; 
but  that  this  was  attended  to  as  a  distinct  object  of  assembling,  and, 
if  there  were  any  other,  after  the  other  was  over. 

It  may  be  thought  that  these  were  mere  accidental  circumstan- 
ces, and  therefore  not  binding  on  us.  It  does  not  appear  to  mc, 
however,  that  we  are  at  liberty  to  turn  the  Lord's  supper  into  a 
breakfast.  But  if  we  be,  and  choose  to  do  so,  let  us  not  pretend 
to  a  punctilious  imitation  of  the  first  churches. 

It  is  well  known  to  be  a  pccidiarity  in  Sandemanian  societies  not 
to  determine  any  question  by  a  mnjontij.  They,  like  the  first 
churches  must  be  of  one  mind  ;  and,  if  there  be  any  dissentients 
who  cannot  be  convinced,  they  are  excluded.  Perfect  unanimity 
is  certainly  desirable,  not  only  in  the  great  principles  of  the  gos- 
pel but  in  questions  of  discipline,  and  even  in  the  choice  of  of- 
ficers ;  but  how  if  this  be  unattainable  ?  The  question  is,  whether 
it  be  more  consistent  with  the  spirit  ami  practice  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament for  the  greater  part  of  the  church  to  forbear  with  the  less, 
or  Diotrephes  like,  to  cast  them  out  of  the  church;  and  this  for 
having,  according  to  the  best  of  their  judgments,  acted  up  to  the 
scriptural  directions  ?  C)ne  oi  these  modes  of  proceeding  must  of 

Vol.  in.  r,i 


482  ON  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT  [Letter  X. 

necessity  be  pursued  ;  for  there  is  no  middle  course  :  and  if  we 
loved  one  another  with  genuine  Christian  affection  we  could  not 
be  at  a  loss  which  to  prefer.  The  New  Testament  speaks  of  an 
election  of  seven  deacons,  but  says  nothing  on  the  mode  of  its 
being  conducted.  Now,  considering  the  number  of  members  in 
the  church  at  Jerusalem,  unless  they  were  directed  in  their  choice 
hy  inspiration,  which  there  is  no  reason  think  they  were,  it  is 
more  than  a  thousand  to  one  that  those  seven  persons  who  were 
chosen  were  not  the  persons  whom  every  individual  member  first 
proposed.  What  then  can  we  suppose  them  to  have  done  ?  They 
might  discuss  the  subject  till  they  become  of  one  mind  ;  or,  which 
is  much  more  likely,  the  lessor  number,  perceiving  the  general 
wish,  and  considering  that  their  brethren  had  understanding  as 
well  as  they,  might  peaceably  give  up  their  own  opinions  to  the 
greater,  "  submitting  one  to  another  in  the  fear  of  God."  But 
suppose  a  hundred  of  the  members  had  said  as  follows  : — '  With- 
out reflecting  on  any  who  have  been  named,  we  think  two  or  three 
other  brethren  more  answerable  to  the  qualifications  required  by 
the  apostles  than  some  of  them  ;  but,  having  said  this,  we  are 
willing  to  acquiesce  in  the  general  voice' — Should  they  or  would 
they  have  been  excluded  for  this  ?  Assuredly  the  exclusions  of  the 
New  Testament  were  for  very  different  causes  ! 

The  statements  of  the  society  in  St.  Martins-legrand  on  thi? 
subject  are  sophistical,  self-contradictory,  and  blasphemous. 
"  Nothing,"  say  they,  "  is  decided  by  the  vote  of  the  majority. 
In  some  cases  indeed  there  are  dissenting  voices.  The  reasons 
of  the  dissent  are  thereupon  proposed  and  considered.  If  they 
are  scriptural,  the  whole  church  has  cause  to  change  its  opinion  ; 
if  not,  and  the  person  persists  in  his  opposition  to  the  word  of  God, 
the  church  is  bound  to  reject  him."  But  who  is  to  judge  whether 
the  reasons  of  the  dissentients  be  scriptural  or  not  ?  The  majority 
lio  doubt,  and  an  opposition  to  their  opinion  is  an  opposition  to 
the  word  of  God. 

Humility  and  love  will  do  great  things  toward  unanimity  ;  but 
this  forced  unanimity  is  the  highest  refinement  of  spiritual  tyran- 
ny.    It  is  being  compelled  to  believe  as  the  church  believes,  and 


Litter  X.)  AND  DISCIPLINE.  483 

tijat  not  only  on  subjects  clearly  revealed,  and  of  great  impor- 
lance  ;  but  in  matters  of  mere  opinion,  in  which  the  most  upright 
minds  may  differ,  and  to  which  no  standard  can  apply.  What  can 
he  who  exalteth  himself  above  all  (hot  is  calltd  God,  do  move,  than 
set  up  his  decisions  as  the  word  of  Got/,  and  require  men  on  pain 
of  excommunication  to  receive  (hem  '' 

I  am  yours.  &ic. 


LETTER  XI. 


OF    THE    KINGDOM    OF    CHRIS! 


My  Dear  Frit-nd. 

You  are  aware  that  the  admirers  ef  Messrs.  Glass  anrl  Sande- 
man  generally  value  themselves  on  their  "  clear  views  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  of  the  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom ;"  and  I  doubt  not  but 
they  have  written  things  concerning  both  which  deserve  attention. 
It  appears  to  me,  however  that  they  have  done  much  more  in  de- 
tecting error,  than  in  advancing  truth  ;  and  that  their  writings  on 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  relate  more  to  what  it  is  not,  than  to  what 
it  is.  Taking  op  the  sentence  of  our  Lord,  My  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world,  they  have  said  much,  and  much  to  purpose,  against 
worldly  establishments  of  religion,  with  their  unscriptural  appen- 
dages ;  but,  after  all.  have  they  shown  what  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
is  ;  and  does  their  religion  taken  as  a  whole,  exemplify  it  in  its 
genuine  simplicity  ?  If  writing  and  talking  about  "  simple  truth" 
would  do  it,  they  would  not  be  wanting  :  but  it  will  not.  Is  there 
not  as  much  of  a  worldly  spirit  in  their  religion  as  in  that  which 
they  explode,  only  that  it  is  of  a  different  species  ?  Nay,  is  there 
not  a  greater  defect  among  them,  in  what  relates  to  7-ighteousness, 
peace,  and  jny  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  than  will  often  be  found  in  what 
they  denominate  Babylon  itself 

A  clear  view  of  the  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom  would  hardly  be 
supposed  to  overlook  the  Apostle's  account  of  it.  The  kingdom 
of  God,  he  says,  is  not  mutt  and  drink,  but  righteousness,  peace 
andjoy  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  From  this  statement  we  should  ex- 
pect to  find  the  essence  of  it  placed  in  things  moral  rather  than  in 


486  0!S  THK  KliNGDOM  [Leitkr  XI. 

things  ceremonial ;  in  things  clearly  revealed  rather  than  in  mat- 
ters of  doubtful  disputation  ;  and  in  things  of  prime  importance 
rather  than  in  those  of  but  comparatively  small  account.  We  cer- 
tainly should  not  expect  to  see  the  old  error  of  the  pharisees  re- 
rived,  that  of  tithing  mint  and  rue  to  the  neglect  of  judgment. 
mercy,  and  the  love  of  God. 

We  should  also  expect  the  most  eminent  subjects  of  this  king- 
dom would  be  men  who,  while  they  conscientiously  attend  to  the 
positive  institutions  of  Christ,  abhor  the  thought  of  making  them 
a  substitute  for  sobriety,  righteousness,  and  godliness  :  men  who 
need  not  a  special  precept  for  every  duty  ;  but,  drinking  deeply 
into  the  law  of  love,  are  ready,  like  the  father  of  the  faithful,  to 
obey  all  its  dictates. 

And,  as  the  kingdom  of  God  consists  in  peace,  we  should  expect 
its  most  eminent  subjects  to  be  distinguished  by  that  dove-like 
spirit  which  seeks  the  things  which  make  for  peace.  They  may 
indeed  be  called  upon  to  contend  for  the  faith,  and  that  earnestly  ; 
but  contention  will  not  be  their  element  :  nor  will  their  time  be 
chiefly  occupied  in  conversing  on  the  errors,  absurdities,  and 
faults  of  others.  Considering  bitter  zeal  and  strife  in  the  heart 
as  belonging  to  the  wisdom  that  descendeth  not  from  above,  bu^ 
which  is  earthly,  sensual,  and  devilish,  they  are  concerned  to  lay 
aside  every  thing  of  the  kind,  and  to  cherish  the  spirit  of  a  new- 
Jjorn  babe. 

Finally  :  The  joys  which  they  possess  in  having  lieard  and  be- 
lieved the  good  news  of  salvation  may  be  expected  to  render  them 
dead  to  those  of  the  world  ;  so  much  so  at  least,  that  they  will 
have  no  need  to  repair  to  the  diversions  of  the  theatre,  or  other 
carnal  pastimes,  in  order  to  be  happy  ;  nor  will  they  dream  of 
such  methods  of  asserting  their  Christian  liberty,  and  opposing 
pharisaism. 

Whether  these  marks  of  Christ's  subjects  be  eminently  con- 
spicuous among  the  people  alluded  to,  those  who  are  best  acquain- 
ted with  them  are  able  to  determine  ;  but  so  far  as  appears  from 
their  writings,  ivhatever  excellencies  distinguish  them,  they  do  not 
consist  in  thinsrs  of  this  nature. 


Lktter  XI.l  OF  CHRIST  487 

It  is  remarkable,  thai  the  Apostle,  aflor  representing  the  king- 
dom of  Goil  as  being  not  meat  and  drink,  hut  righteousness,  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Hohj  Spirit,  adds,  for  he  thnt  in  these  things  scr- 
vcth  Christ  is  arrrptabfc  to  (iod,  and  aprorcd  of  men.  Let  «s  there- 
fore follow  after  the  things  tehich  make  for  peace,  and  things 
where  with  one  may  edify  another.  This  not  only  shows  what  the 
prominent  features  of  Christ's  kingdom  are,  but  affords  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  kingdom  contended  for  by  Sandemanians,  which,  in- 
stead of  re<'onmicn(lins;  itself  to  both  God  and  man,  would  seem 
rather  to  have  been  copied  from  the  religion  of  that  people  who 
"  pleased  not  God,  and  were  contrary  to  all  men." 

The  substitution  of  forms  and  ceremonies  for  the  love  God  and 
man  is  one  of  the  many  ways  in  which  depiavity  has  been  wont  to 
operate.  What  else  is  Paganism,  apostate  Judaism,  Popery,  and 
many  other  things  which  pass  for  religion  ?  And  whether  the 
same  principle  does  not  pervade  the  system  in  question,  and  even 
constitute  one  of  its  leading  features,  let  the  impartial  observer 
judge.  If  it  does  not  place  the  kingdom  of  God  in  meat  and  drink, 
it  places  it  in  things  analogous  to  them,  rather  than  in  righteous- 
ness, peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit. 

It  is  true,  the  forms  contended  for  in  this  case  are  not  the  same 
as  in  many  other,  being  such  only  as  are  thought  to  be  enjoined  in 
the  scriptures.  That  many  of  them  arise  from  a  misunderstanding 
of  the  scriptures,  1  have  endeavoured  to  show  in  a  former  letter  ; 
but,  whether  it  be  so,  or  not,  if  an  improper  stress  be  laid  upon 
them,  they  may  be  as  injurious  as  though  they  were  not  scriptural. 
When  the  brazen  serpent  became  an  idol,  it  was  as  pernicious  as 
other  idols.  The  tithing  of  herbs,  though  in  itself  right,  yet  being 
done  to  the  neglect  of"  weightier  matters,"  became  the  very  cha- 
racteristic hypocricy. 

It  has  been  said  that  obedience  to  the  least  of  (Jod's  commandi 
cannot  be  unfriendly  to  obedience  to  the  greatest ;  and  if  it  be 
genuine,  it  cannot;  but  to  deny  the  possibility  of  the  great  things 
of  God's  law  being  set  aside  by  a  fondness  for  little  things,  is  to 
deny  the  fact  just  refered  to,  and  discovers  but  a  slender  acquain- 
tance with  the  human  heart,  which  cprtainly  can  burn  in   zeal  for 


488  ON  THE  KINGDOM  [Letter  XI. 

a  ceremony,  when  as  to  the  love  of  God  and  man,  it  is  as  cold  as 
death. 

If  the  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom  were  placed  in  those  things  in 
in  which  the  Apostle  places  it,  the  government  and  discipline  of 
the  church  would  be  considered  as  means,  and  not  as  ends.  The 
design  order  and  discipline  in  an  army  is  to  encounter  the  enemy 
to  advantage  ;  and  such  was  the  order  and  discipline  of  the  primi- 
tive churches.  It  was  still  peaceable,  and,  affectionate  ;  without 
parade,  and  without  disputes.  It  consisted  in  all  things  being  done 
to  edifying,  and  in  such  an  arrangement  of  energies  as  that  every 
gift  should  be  employed  to  the  best  advantage  in  building  up  the 
church,  and  attacking  the  kingdom  of  Satan.  But  is  this  the  order 
and  discipline  of  which  so  much  has  of  late  been  written  ?  Surely 
not  !  From  the  days  of  Glass  and  Sandeman  until  now,  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  their  object  to  convert  men  to  Christ  from 
among  the  ungodly,  but  to  make  proselytes  of  other  Christians. 
And  is  this  to  understand  the  true  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom  !  If 
there  were  not  another  fact,  this  alone  is  sufficient  to  prove  that 
their  religion,  though  it  may  contain  a  portion  of  truth,  and  though 
godly  men  may  have  been  misled  by  it,  yet,  taken  as  a  whole,  is 
not  of  God.  There  is  not  a  surer  mark  of  false  religion  than  its 
tendency  and  aim  being  to  make  proselytes  to  ourselves  rather 
than  converts  to  Christ.* 

That  there  is  neither  tendency  in  the  system,  nor  aim  in  those 
who  enter  fully  into  it,  to  promote  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  is  mani- 
fest, and  easily  accounted  for.  They  neither  expect,  nor,  as  it 
would  seem,  desire  its  progress  ;  but  even  look  with  a  jealous  eye 
on  all  opinions  and  efforts  in  favour  of  its  enlargement  ;  as  though, 
should  it  be  greatly  extended,  it  must  needs  be  a  kingdom  of  this 
n'orld  I  This,  I  am  aware,  is  a  serious  charge  :  but  it  does  not 
originate  with  me,  Mr.  Rraidvvood,  of  Edinburgh,  who  must  be 
allowed  to  have  the  best  opportunities  of  knowing  the  system  and 
ks  adherents,  and  who  cannot  be  supposed  to  write  under  the  in- 
iluence  of  prejudice,  seeing  he  acknowledges  he  has  "learned  many 

■  .\cts  xs.  30. 


Letter  XI.  |  OF  CHRIST.  439 

things  from  the  ancient  writings  of  this  class  of  professing 
Christians  in  relation  to  the  simple  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
nature  of  Christ's  kingdom" — Mr.  Braidwood,  1  say,  writes  as  fol- 
lows : — "  1  feel  it  incumbent  on  me  to  warn  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
against  that  state  of  mind  which  makes  them  slow  to  believe  the 
prophecies  relating  to  the  extent  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom." — 
"It  is  remarkable  that  some  (ientile  Christians  now  show  a  dispo- 
sition toward  the  Jews,  similar  to  that  which,  in  the  apostolic  age, 
the  Jews  miuiifested  toward  the  Gentiles,  namely,  a  dislike  to  their 
salcniion !  It  i^  truly  mortifyin;:;  to  retlect  that  the  greater  num- 
ber ol  those  who  indulge  this  state  of  mind,  arc  persons  much  in- 
struct«'d  ill  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  and  of  the  things  concern- 
ing the  kingdom  of  Ciod.  They  call  it  a  Jewish  notion  to  Q\\)orA 
an  extensive  influence  of  the  word  of  God  among  all  nations.  The 
very  opposite  is  the  fact  ;  for  the  apostle  Paul,  describing  his 
countrymen,  says,  Thci/ please  not  Gud, and  are  contrary  tu  all  men, 
forbidding  us  to  speak  unto  the  Gentiles  that  they  might  be  saved. 
And  even  6e//pp/n^  Jews  were  not  very  willing  to  acknowledge  the 
tirst  Gentile  converts,  and  were  surprised  when  they  heard  that 
God  IkuI  also  granted  to  the  Gentiles  repentance  unto  life.  But 
the  apostle  thus  describes  the  spirit  by  which  he  regulated  his  own 
conduct :  /  please  all  men  in  all  things,  not  seeking  rnine  own  profit^ 
hut  the  profit  of  many  that  they  may  be  saved  ! 

"  The  freeness  of  divine  grace,  its  sovereignity,  its  opposition 
to  the  most  darling  inclinations  of  the  human  heart,  the  spiritual  and 
heavenly  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom — all  these  have  been  used  as 
arguments  against  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  or  any  signal  pros- 
perity of  the  gospel  among  the  Gentiles  I  And  they  whose  heart's 
desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  Israel,  and  for  the  nations,  is  that 
they  may  be  saved,  are  accused  of  ignorance  of  the  gospel,  and  of 
wishing  to  see  a  corrupt  faith  prevail,  especially  if  they  dare  to 
express  a  hope  that  their  prayers  will  be  answered  !" 

it  would  seem,  from  hence,  to  be  the  interest  of  this  class  of 
professing  Christians,  that  the  world  and  the  church  shoidd  con- 
tinue what  they  are.  They  glory  in  the  latter  being  few  in  num- 
ber :  if  therefore,  any  considerable  part  of  mankind  were  to  era- 

Vol.  III.  62 


490  ON  THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHRIST.         [Letter  Xf. 

brace  even  what  they  account  the  truth,  they  would  have  nothing 
left,  in  comparison,  whereof  to  glory  ! 

Mr.  Braid  wood  addresses  the  party  on  whom  he  animadverts  as 
follows  "  Will  the  purest  and  simplest  views  that  can  be  enter- 
tained of  the  truth  concerning  Jesus  have  any  tendency  to  make 
us  less  concerned  about  the  salvation  of  men,  and  more  anxious 
to  darken  the  things  revealed  in  the  scriptures  concerning  the  suc- 
cess of  the  gospel  among  all  nations  ?  No,  ray  friend,  let  us  be 
ware  of  imputing  to  the  gospel  a  state  of  mind  which  so  ill  accords 
with  its  genuine  influence,  and  which  can  only  arise  {com  prejudice, 
and  from  mintaken  views  of  the  Messiah^  s  kingdom.  That  glo- 
rious kingdom,  instead  of  dying  away,  as  some  have  supposed, 
like  an  expiring  lamp,  before  the  advent  of  its  eternal  king,  shall 
break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  opposing  kingdoms,  and  shall  stand 
forever,  although  its  own  subjects,  acting  consistently,  use  no  carnal 
weapons."* 

The  writer  to  whom  these  excellent  remarks  are  addressed, 
signs  himself  P«/cE»/o«.  I  know  not  who  he  is  ;  but  as  the  signa- 
ture is  the  same  as  that  affixed  to  Mr.  Sandeman's  Letters  on  The- 
ron  and  Jspasio,  1  conclude  he  is,  and  wishes  to  be  thouiiht  a  San- 
demanian.  Mr.  Br  idwood  calls  him  his"  friend,"  and  speaks  of 
his  being  '•  mortified"  by  these  his  erroneous  sentiments,  as  though 
he  had  a  feeling  forPalaemon's  general  creed,  or"  that  instructioa 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  and  of  the  things  concerning  the 
kingdom  of  God,"  which  he  and  others  had  received.  For  my 
part  without  deciding  upon  the  state  of  individuals,  I  an  persua- 
ded that  these  people,  with  all  their  professions  of"  clear  views," 
"  simple  truth,"  and  "  simple  belief,"  have  imbibed  a  corrupt 
and  dangerous  system  of  doctrine. 

Palaemon,  whoever  he  is,  would  do  well  to  examine  himself 
luhetherhe  he  in  the  faith ;  and  were  I  in  Mr.  Braid  wood's  place, 
I  should  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  re-examine  what  1  had  "  learned 
from  the  ancient  writings  of  this  class  of  professing  Christians 
relative  to  the  simple  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  and  the  nature  of 
Christ's  kingdom  ;"  and  to  ask  myself  what  I  had  asked  my 
friend,  Whether  that  can  he  pure  and  simple  truth  which  is  produc- 
tive of  such  effects  ?  I  am  yours,  &c. 
*  Letters  on  a  variety  of  Subjects,  pp.  28. 30. 


LKTTEK  XII. 


Ult;    SFlKiT    OK    Till.   SVSTEM    •'(IMPAnKl)    WITJI   THAT  UK   I'KJMlTIVh 

rnnisriAMTV. 


iV/y  Dear  Friend. 

You  are  aware  lliat  doctrines,  wlielhcr  true  or  false,  if  really 
believed,  become  principles  of  action.  They  are  a  mould  into 
which  the  mind  is  cast,  and  from  which  it  receives  its  impression. 
An  observant  eye  will  easily  perceive  a  spirit  which  attends 
different  religions,  and  different  systems  of  the  same  reli- 
gion ;  which,  over  and  above  the  diversities  arising  from  natural 
temper,  will  manifest  itself  in  their  respective  adherents.  Pagan- 
ganism,  Mahomclani-m,  Deism,  apostate  Judaism,  and  the  various 
systems  which  have  appeared  under  the  name  of  Christianity,  have 
each  discovered  a  spirit  of  their  own  ;  and  so  has  Christianity  it- 
self. Thus  it  was  from  the  beginning :  those  who  received 
"  another  doctrine,"  received  with  it  "  another  spirit ;"  and  hence 
we  arc  told  of  '*  the  spiiit  of  truth,  and  the  spirit  of  erroi:"  he 
that  had  the  one  was  said  to  be  "  of  God,"  and  he  that  had  the 
other  "  not  of  God." 

I  ho|)e  it  will  be  understood  that  in  what  I  write  on  this  subject 
there  is  no  reference  to  individuals,  nor  any  wish  to  judge  men 
indiscriminately  by  the  names  under  which  they  pass,  nor  any  de- 
sire to  charge  the  evds  which  may  belong  to  (he  system  on  all  who 
have  di^;covered  a  partiality  in  its  favour,  or  who  have  defended 
particular  parts  of  it.  I  shall  only  take  a  brief  review  of  the  spi- 
rit which  is  of  God,  and  compare  that  of  Mr.  Sandeman,  and  the 
generality  of  its  admirers,  with  it. 


492  ON  THE  SPIRIT  [Letter  XII. 

First :  The'  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity  was  full  of  the 
devout  and  the  affectionate.  Of  this,  there  needs  little  to  be  said 
in  a  way  of  proof,  as  the  thing  is  evident  to  any  one  who  is  acquain- 
ted with  the  Bible.  The  Psalms  of  David  are  full  of  it ;  and  so  is 
the  New  Testament.  Primitive  Christianity  was  the  religion  of 
love.  It  breathed  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  on  all  that  loved  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity.  Among  such  it  would  not  break 
a  bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax.  Its  faithfulness  was 
tempered  with  brotherly  kindness.  It  had  compassion  for  the  ig- 
norant, and  them  that  were  out  of  the  way  ;  and  while  siding  with 
God  against  the  wicked,  it  wept  over  them,  and  was  willing  to  do 
or  suffer  any  thing,  if  by  any  means  it  might  save  some  of  them. 
But  is  this  Sandemanianism  ?  You  will  scarcely  meet  with  terms 
expressive  of  devotion  or  affection,  in  any  of  its  productions,  unless 
it  be  to  hold  them  up  to  ridicule.  It  appears  to  be  at  war  with  all 
devotion  and  devout  men.  Its  most  indignant  opposition  and  bit- 
terest invectives  are  reserved  for  them.  It?  advocates  would  have 
you  think,  indeed  that  it  is  6/iW  devotion,  like  that  of  the  Pniri- 
sees,  at  which  they  sneer :  but  where  are  we  to  ksok  for  that 
which  is  not  so,  and  with  which  they  are  not  at  war  ?  Is  it  to  be 
found  out  of  their  own  connexions  ?  Every  thing  there  which 
has  the  appearance  of  religion  is  pharisaism.  It  must  therefore 
be  among  themselves  if  any  where.  But  if  the  spirit  of  love, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  meekness,  &c.  prevail  in 
their  assemblies,  it  is  singular  that  the  same  spirit  should  not  ap- 
pear in  their  writings.  Who  that  has  read  them  will  saj'  that  their 
general  tendency  is  to  promote  the  love  of  either  God  or  man  ? 
Toward  worldly  men  indeed,  who  make  no  pretence  to  religion, 
the  system  seems  to  bear  a  friendly  aspect :  but  it  discovers  no 
concern  for  their  salvation.  It  would  seem  to  have  no  tears  to 
shed  over  a  perishing  world  ;  and  even  looks  with  a  jealous  eye 
on  those  that  have,  glorying  in  the  paucity  of  its  numbers  1 

Whether  the  advocates  of  this  system  perceive  the  discordance 
between  their  own  spirit  and  that  of  David,  or  whatever  is  the  rea- 
son, it  is  common  for  them  to  apply  to  Christ  a  great  deal  of  what 
he  manifestly  wrote  of  his  own  devout  feeling.  Christ,  it  seems, 
might  be  the  subject  of  devotion,  without  any  danger  of  self- right- 


Letter  XII.]  OF  THE  SYSTEM.  493 

eons  pride  ;  but  we  cannot,  and  therefore  must  have  little  or  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it. 

It  is  among  people  of  this  description  th;it  Tchg:^\o\\ii  feelings  and 
affections  are  ordinarily  traduced.  There  are,  no  doubt,  many 
enthusiastic  feehii:;*.  which  liare  no  true  rchgion  in  them.  There 
is  such  a  thing  too  a<  to  make  a  Saviour  of  them,  as  well  as  of  our 
duties.  But  we  must  not  on  this  account  exchide  the  one  any 
more  than  the  other.  President  Edwards,  in  hi;*  Treatise  on  Re- 
ligious Affections,  has  proved  beyond  all  reasonable  contradiction, 
that  the  essence  of  true  religion  lies  in  them.  In  reading  that 
work  and  Mr.  Sandcnian's  Letters,  we  may  see  many  of  the  same 
things  exposed  as  enthusiastic  ;  but  the  one  is  an  oil  that  breaketh 
not  the  head,  the  other  an  effusion  of  pride  and  bitterness.  The 
first,  while  rejecting  what  is  naught,  retains  the  savour  of  pure 
humble,  and  holy  religion  :  but  the  last,  is  as  one  who  should  pro- 
pose to  remove  the  disorders  of  the  head  by  means  of  a  guillo- 
tine. 

It  has  been  observed,  that  every  religion,  which,  instead  of  aris- 
ing from  love  to  the  truth,  has  its  origin  in  dislike  or  opposition, 
even  though  it  be  to  error,  will  come  to  nothing.  You  may  some- 
times see  the  principal  inhabitants  of  a  village  fall  out  with  the 
Clergyman,  perhaps  on  account  of  some  difference  on  the  subject 
of  tythes,  and  proceed  to  build  a  place  for  dissenting  worship :  also 
dissenting  congregations  themselves  will  sometimes  divide  from 
mere  antipathy  to  the  preacher,  or  from  offence  taken  at  some  of 
the  people  :  but  did  you  ever  know  such  undertakings  productive 
of  much  good  ?  When  we  adhere  to  a  system  of  religion  from  op- 
position to  something  else,  we  do  not  so  much  regard  it  for  what  it 
i«,  as  for  what  it  is  7int.  Whatever  good,  therefore,  there  may  be  in 
it,  it  will  do  us  no  good,  and  >ve  shall  go  on  waxing  worse  and 
worse.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Sadducecs,  according  to  Pri- 
deaux,  professed,  at  their  outset,  the  strictest  adherence  to  the 
written  trnrd,  utter li/  rennuncing  the  traditions  of  the  elders,  which 
the  Pharisees  had  agreed  to  hold.  In  a  little  time,  however,  they 
rejected  a  great  part  of  the  word  itself,  and  its  most  important  doc- 
trines, such  as  the  resurrection  and  a  future  life.  This  was  no 
more  than  miffht  have  been  expected;  for  the  origin  of  the  sys- 


494  ON  THE  SPIRIT  [Letter  XII. 

tern  was  not  attachment  to  the  word,  but  disHke  to  the  Pharisees. 

How  far  these  remarks  apply  to  the  religion  in  question,  let 
those  who  are  best  acquainted  with  it  judge.  It  doubtless  contains 
some  important  truth,  as  did  Sadduceanisfn  at  its  outset ;  but  the 
spirit  which  pervades  it  must  render  it  doubtful  whether  this  be 
held  fbr  its  own  sake  so  much  as  from  opposition  to  other  princi- 
ples. If  truth  be  loved  for  its  own  sake,  it  will  occupy  our  minds 
irrespective  of  the  errors  which  are  opposed  to  it,  and  whether 
they  exist  or  not.  But,  by  the  strain  of  writing  and  conversation 
which  pervails  in  this  connexion,  it  would  seem  as  if  the  supposed 
absurdities  of  others  were  the  life  of  their  religion,  and  that  if  they 
were  once  to  cease,  their  zeal  would  expire  with  them.  It  is  the 
vulture,  and  not  the  dove,  that  is  apparent  in  all  their  writings. 
Who  will  say  that  Mr.  Sandeman  sought  the  good  of  his  oppo- 
nents, when  all  through  his  publications  he  took  every  opportuni- 
ty to  hold  them  up  to  contempt ;  and  with  evident  marks  of  pleas- 
ure to  describe  them  and  their  friends  as  walking  in  a  devout  path 
to  hell  ?  The  same  is  manifestly  the  spirit  of  his  followers,  though 
they  may  not  possess  his  sarcastic  talents.  But  are  these  the 
weapons  of  the  Christian  warfare  ?  Supposing  Flavel,  Boston, 
the  Erskines,  &.c.  to  have  been  bad  men,  was  this  the  way  to  deal 
with  them  ?     Is  there  no  medium  between  flattery  and  malignity. 

Mr.  Sandeman  would  persuade  us  that  Paul  was  of  his  "tem- 
per."* Paul  was  certainly  in  earnest,  and  resisted  error  wher- 
ever he  found  it.  He  does  not,  however,  treat  those  who  build 
on  a  right  foundation,  though  it  be  a  portion  of  what  will  be  ulti- 
mately consumed,  as  enemies  to  the  truth.!  And  in  his  conduct 
even  to  the  enemies  of  Christ,  I  recollect  no  sarcastic  sneers, 
tending  to  draw  upon  them  the  contempt  of  mankind,  but  every 
thing  calculated  to  do  them  good.  If,  however,  it  were  not  so,  he 
must  have  practised  differently  from  what  he  wrote.  The  servant 
of  the  Lord,  he  says  in  his  Epistle  to  Timothy,  must  not  strive 
(as  for  mastery  ;)  but  be  grntle  unto  all  men;  in  meekness  in- 
structmg  those  that  oppose  themselves ;  if  God  peradventure  will 
give  them  repentance  to  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth.     Paul 

*  Epistolary  Correspondence,  p.  9.  t  ]  Cor.  iii.  11— 15. 


Letter  XII.J  OF  THK  SYSTEM.  .j.jj 

would  have  instructed  and  intreated  those   wliorn  .Mr.    Sandemaa 
scorned. 

There  is  a  calmness,  I  acknowledge,  in  the  advocates  of  tliic 
doctrine,  which  distinguishes  their  writings  from  the  low  and  ful- 
some productions  of  the  English  Antinomians.  But  calmness  is 
not  always  opposed  to  bitterness:  on  the  contrary,  it  may  be 
j«tudied  tor  the  very  purpose  of  concealing  it.  The  words  of  hia 
mouth  were  smuother  than  butter,  but  war  was  in  his  heart :  his 
sayinr^s  were  softer  than  oil,  yet  were  thcij  drawn  swords. 

The  oidy  thint^  that  I  know  of  which  has  the  appearance  of  love 
is,  that  attachment  which  they  have  to  one  another,  and  which 
they  consider  as  Inve  for  the  truth's  sake.  But  even  here  there 
are  things  which  I  am  not  able  to  reconcile.  Love  for  the  truth's 
sake  unites  the  he.irt  to  every  one  in  proportion  as  he  appears  to 
embrace  it:  but  the  nearer  you  approach  to  those  people,  provi- 
ded you  follow  not  alooi;  with  them,  so  much  the  more  bitter  are 
their  invectives.  Again  :  Love  for  the  truth's  sake  takes  into  con- 
sideration its  practical  eflects.  It  was  truth  embodied  in  the  spirit 
and  life  th;tt  excited  the  attachment  hf  the  ajiostle  John  :  /  rejoi- 
ced great  ti/  that  I  found  of  thi/  children  walki.no  m  truth.  But 
that  which  excites  their  love  seems  to  be  the  "  clear  views" 
which  they  conceive  their  friends  to  entertain  above  other  profes- 
sing Christians.  Once  more  :  Love,  be  it  for  the  sake  of  what  it 
may.  will  so  unite  us  to  one  another  as  to  renrler  separation  pain- 
ful, and  lead  to  the  use  of  all  possible  means  of  preventing  it.  But 
such  is  the  discipline  of  those  who  drink  into  these  principles, 
that,  for  differences  which  otheis  would  consider  as  objects  of  for- 
bearance, they  can  separate  men  from  their  communion  in  consid- 
erable numbers,  with  little  or  no  apparent  concern.  I  can  rec- 
oncile such  things  with  self-love  ;  but  not  with  love  for  the  truth's 
sake. 

Secondly:  The  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity  was  a  spirit  of 
meekness  and  humlliti/.  Of  this  Christ  himsolf  was  the  great  pat- 
tern; and  they  that  would  be  his  disciples  must  'Mearn  of  him 
who  was  meek  and  lowly  of  heart."  They  were  unbelievers, 
and  not  Chri-itiais,  who  trusted  in  thrmsclecs  that  theij  were  right- 
eous, and  despised  others.     He  that  would  bo  wise  was  required  to 


496  ON  THE  SPIRIT  [Lettkr  XII. 

become  a  fool,  that  he  might  be  wise.  The  apostle  Paul,  notwith- 
standing his  high  attainments  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  reckoned 
himself  as  knowing  nothing  comparatively,  desiring  above  all 
things  THAT  HE  MIGHT  KNOW  HIM,  ttiid  the  poivcr  of  his  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings  and  be  made  conformable 
unto  his  death.  If  any  man  thought  that  he  knew  any  thing,  he 
declared  that  he  knew  nothing  yet  as  he  ought  to  know.  But  is 
this  the  spirit  of  the  system  in  question  ?  One  of  the  first  things 
that  presents  itself  is  a  pretence  to  something  very  nearly  akin  to 
infallibility ;  an  imposing  air  in  all  its  decisions,  tending  to  bear 
down  timid  spirits,  especially  as  the  sincerity,  and  consequently 
the  Christianity  of  the  party  is  suspended  upon  his  entirely  yield- 
ing himself  up  to  it. 

If  it  be  necessary  to  become  fools  that  we  may  be  wise,  how 
are  we  to  account  for  those  -'  clear  views  of  the  gospel"  of  which 
these  people  boast  ?  They  have  given  abundant  proof  that  they 
account  others  fools  who  do  not  see  with  them  ;  and  they  may  ac- 
count themselves  to  have  been  such  till  they  imbibed  their  pre- 
sent principles  :  but  if  any  symptoms  have  appeared  of  their  being 
fools  in  their  own  eyes  from  that  time  forward,  they  have  escaped 
my  observation.  Instead  of  a  self-diffident  spirit,  which  treats 
with  respect  the  understanding  of  others,  and  implores  divine 
direction,  no  sooner  have  these  principles  taken  possession  of  a 
man,  than  they  not  only  render  him  certain  that  he  is  in  the  right, 
but  instantly  qualify  him  to  pronounce  on  those  who  follow  not 
with  him  as  destitute  of  the  truth. 

We  may  be  told,  however,  that  there  is  one  species  of  pride  at 
least,  of  which  the  system  cannot  be  suspected,  namely  that  of 
self  righteousness ,  seeing  it  is  that  against  which  its  abettors  are 
constantly  declaiming.  But  he  that  would  know  the  truth  must 
not  take  up  with  mere  professions.  If  a  self-righteous  spirit  con- 
sist in  trusting  in  themselves  that  they  are  righteous,  and  despising 
others,  I  see  not  how  they  are  to  be  acquitted  of  it.  A  self-right- 
eous spirit  and  its  opposite  will  be  allowed  to  be  drawn  with  suffi- 
cient prominency  in  the  parable  of  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican. 
The  question  is,  which  of  these  characters  is  exemplified  by  those 
who  enter  fully  into  the  Sandemanian  system  ?     Is  it  the  publican  ? 


Letter  XII.]  Ol'  llli:  SYSlhJM.  497 

I^ook  at  it :  I  am  aware  that  he  !•*  the  i'avoiirito  of  the  pirly,  and 
so  he  is  of  other  parties  5  lor  you  never  heard  of  any  who  were 
the  professed  advocates  of  the  Pharisee  ;  Imt  are  they  of  the 
spirit  of  the  piibhran  ?  liather,  are  they  not  tnanifestly  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Tliarisoe,  \\)\o  looked  down  with  scorn  upon  his  fel- 
low-worshipper ' 

Mr.  Rraidwood,  rel'erring  to  a  late  publication  by  one  of  llii- 
class  of  professing  Christians,  who  calls  himself  .S7»/i;>/<'a%  writes  as 
follows  : — "  The  work  refoVred  to  seems  intended  chielly  to  show 
how  much  Simplex,  and  they  who  agree  with  him,  drapisr  ot/tcra 
and  how  far  they  alone  are  from  tnisting  to  fhcinsclvca  thtit  Iheii 
arc  righteous.  This  their  apparent  inconsistency,  their  contideni 
assertions  when  no  proof  is  given,  their  unfeeling  and  indiscriniiii- 
ate  censures,  (which  therefore  cannot  be  always  just,)  anil  their 
fearless  anathemas  against  all  who  follow  not  with  them,  prcveni 
them  from  obtaining  a  hearing,  not  only  from  those  whom  they 
might  be  warranted  to  consider  as  false  professors,  but  from  dis 
ciples  of  Christ,  who  need  to  be  taught  the  way  of  Gnd  more  per- 
fectly.    And  in  this  also  they  glory. 

"  If  they  would  suffer  an  exhortation  from  a  fellow-sinner,  I 
would  entreat  them  to  recollect  that  the  Pharisee  praying  in  the 
temple,  disdained  the  publican,  while  the  publican  disdained  no 
man,  and  had  nothing  to  say  except  what  regarded  himself  and 
THE  Most  High.  —  Clod  be  mci'cifvl  to  me  a  sinner,  i'hey  will 
never  successfully  combat  self-righteousness  till  they  themselves 
become  poor  and  of  a  contrite  {;pirit.  'i'he  most  eflnctual  way  te 
condenm  pride,  is  to  give  an  <'xa7»/'/t' of  humility. 

"Self-abasement  corresponds  witii  the  humbling  doctrine  ot 
Christ  crucified  :  while  the  indulgence  of  an  o])posit(^  spirit,  in 
connexion  with  clear  views  of  the  freedom  and  sovereignty  of 
divine  grace,  presents  a  most  unnatural  and  unedilying  object — 
the  publican  turning  the  chase  upon  the  I'harisee,  and  combating 
him  with  his  own  weapons !  Nay,  he  who  proiesses  to  account 
himself  the  chief  of  sinners,  having  once  begun  to  iniilato  an  exam- 
ple so  repugnant  to  the  genuine  inlluenco  of  the  doctiine  lor  which 
he  contends,  now  proceeds  to  attack  all  who  come  in  his  wa}~- 
self-condemned  publicans,  not  entirely  of  his  own  mii>d.  as  well  as 

V'oT,.  J  If.  r,3 


498  OX  THE  SPIRIT  [Letter  Xll. 

y)roud  Pharisees,  avowing  their  impious  claims  upon  ihrt  Divine 
Being.     May  we  not  a«k,  U7io  art  thou  that  judgest?''^* 

As  to  Mr.  Braidwood's  allowing  them  to  possess  "  clear  views 
of  the  freedom  and  sovereignty  of  divine  grace,"  I  do  not  under- 
stand how  such  views  can  accompany,  and  still  less  produce,  such 
a  spirit  as  he  has  described ;  but  with  regard  to  the  spirit  itself,  it 
is  manifestly  drawn  from  life,  ar.d  is  of  greater  effect  than  if  he 
had  written  a  volume  on  the  subject.  Whetiior  his  observations 
do  not  equally  apply  to  that  marked  separation  of  church-mem- 
bers from  others  in  public  worship,  said  to  be  practised  of  late  in 
Ireland,  and  to  which  he  refers  in  page  32,  let  those  who  have 
their  senses  exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil  judge. 

Lastly :  The  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity  was  catholic  and 
pacific.  Its  language  is,  Grace  he  iviih  all  them  that  love  our  Lord' 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity. — As  many  as  walk  by  this  rule,  (that  is, 
the  cross  of  Christ,)  peace  be  on  them,  and  mercy,  and  upon  the 
Israel  of  God. — All  that  in  every  place  call  upon  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  our  Lord,  both  theirs  and  ours,  Grace  be  unto  them,  and 
peace,  from  God  our  Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

There  were  cases  in  which  the  apostles  and  first  Christians 
were  obliged  to  withdraw  even  from  brethren  who  walked  disor- 
derly ;  but  this  would  give  them  pain.  And  if  the  disordered  state 
of  the  Christian  world  at  present  render  it  necessary  for  some  of 
the  friends  of  Christ  to  withdraw  from  others,  it  must  needs,  to  a 
truly  good  man,  be  a  matter  of  deep  regret.  It  will  be  his  con- 
o«>rn,  too,  to  diminish  the  breach  rather  than  widen  it ;  and  to  con- 
sider the  things  wherein  he  agrees  with  others,  and  as  far  as  he 
conscientiously  can,  to  act  with  them.  If  we  see  individuals,  or  a 
community,  who,  instead  of  such  regret,  are  generally  employed 
in  censuring  all  who  follow  not  with  them,  as  enemies  to  the  truth  : 
and,  instead  of  acting  with  them  in  things  wherein  they  are  agreed, 
are  studious  to  render  the  separation  as  wide  as  possible,  and  glory 
in  it — can  we  hesitate  to  say  this  is  not  Christianity  ?j 

There  is  a  zeal  which  may  properly  be  denominated  catholic, 
a.nd  one  which  may  as  properly  be  denominated  sectarian.     It  is 

*  Letters  on  various  Subjects,  &c.  Introduction. 


Letter  XII.]  OF  THE  SYSTEM.  499 

not  supposed  that  any  man,  or  boily  of  men,  can  be  equally  con- 
cerned in  promoting  Christ's  interest  in  nil  places.  As  our  pow- 
ers are  limited,  we  must  each  build  the  wall,  as  it  were,  over 
against  our  own  houses.  Nor  are  we  obligeil  to  be  vquallij  con- 
cerned for  the  prosperity  of  all  religious  undertakings,  in  which  the 
parties  may  be  in  the  main  on  the  side  of  Christ.  It  is  rii^ht  that  wc 
should  be  most  interested  in  that  which  approaches  the  nearest  to 
truth  and  true  religion.  But  true  catholic  zeal  will  nevertheless 
have  the  good  of  the  universal  church  of  Chri?t  for  its  grand  ob- 
ject, and  will  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of  every  denomination  ot 
Christians,  in  *o_/ar  as  they  appear  to  have  the  mind  of  Christ. 
Those  who  builded  the  wall  against  their  own  iiousos  would  not 
consider  themselves  as  the  only  builders,  but  would  bear  good 
will  to  their  brethren,  and  keep  in  view  the  rearing  of  the  whole 
wall,  which  shouKl  encompass  tiie  city-  As  it  is  not  our  being  of 
the  religion  of  Kome,  nor  of  any  other  which  happens  to  be 
favoured  by  the  state,  that  determines  our  zeal  to  be  catholic  ;  so. 
it  is  not  our  being  of  a  sect,  or  party  of  Christians,  or  endeavour- 
ing with  Christian  meekness  and  frankness  to  convince  others  of 
what  wc  account  the  mind  of  Christ,  that  gives  it  the  character  of 
sectarian.  It  is  a  being  more  concerned  to  propagate  tliosc  things 
XJi'herein  we  differ  from  other  Christians,  than  to  impart  the  common 
salvation.  Where  this  is  the  case  we  shall  so  limit  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  to  ourselves  as  nearly  to  confine  our  good  wishes, 
prayers,  and  efforts  to  our  own  denomination,  and  treat  all  others 
as  if  we  had  nothing  to  do  with  them  in  religious  matters  but  in  a 
way  of  censuro.  and  dispute.  Wherein  this  kind  of  zeal  differs 
from  that  of  the  Pharisees,  that  compassed  sea  and  land  to  make 
proselytes,  but  who,  when  made,  were  turned  to  /hem  rather  than 
to  God,  I  cannot  understand. 

It  is  remarkable,  that,  notwithstandmg  all  which  lins  hern  writ 
ten  by  the  advocates  of  this  system  about  a  free  gospel  to  the  un 
godl}',  they  do  not  seem  to  have  much  to  do  in  labouring  for  the  con- 
version of  men  of  this  description.  Their  principal  attention,  like 
that  of  the  Socinians,  seems  directed  toward>  religious  people  ol 
other  denominations,  and  from  them  their  forces  have  been  mosth 
recruited.     This  tnav  not   have  been  uni' ersallv  (ho   rase,   buf 


/ 


jOO  ^>^  1'^^!=^  SPIRIT  ['Letter  XII. 

Horn  every  thing  that  I  have  seen  and  heard,  it  is  very  generally 
so :  and  if  this  do  not  betraj'^  a  zeal  more  directed  to  the  making 
of  proselytes  to  themselves  than  of  converts  to  Christ,  it  will  be 
i-li/Ticidt  to  determine  what  does. 

The  [zeal  of  the  apostles  was  directed  to  the  correction  of 
evils,  the  healing  of  differences,  and  the  uniting  of  the  friends  of 
Jesus  Christ :  but  the  zeal  produced  by  this  system  appears  to  be 
of  a  contrary  tendency.  Wherever  it  most  prevails,  we  hear 
most  of  bitterness,  contention,  and  division. 

It  may  be  said,  this  is  no  more  than  was  true  of  the  gospel  itself, 
vvbich  set  a  man  at  variance  with  his  father,  his  mother,  and  his 
nearest  friends  ;  and  relates  not  to  what  it  causes,  but  to  what, 
through  the  corruptions  of  men,  it  occasions.  The  words  of  our 
Lord,  however,  do  not  describe  the  bitterness  of  believers  against 
unbelievers,  but  of  unbelievers  against  believers,  who  as  Cain  ha- 
led his  brother,  hate  them  for  the  gospel's  sake. 

Ft  has  been  said,  that  "  the  poignancy  of  Mr.  Sandeman's  words 
arises  from  their  being  true."  The  same  might  be  said,  and  with 
equal  justice,  of  any  other  "bitter  words,"  for  which  men  of  con- 
temptuous spirits  know  how  to  "  whet  their  tongues."  If  the  doc- 
trine which  Mr.  Sandeman  taught  were  true,  it  would  do  good 
to  them  that  believed  it.  It  certainly  produces  its  own  likeness  in 
them  ;  but  what  is  it  ?  Is  it  not  "  trusting  in  themselves  that  they 
are  righteous,  and  despising  others  ?"  Is  it  not  descrying  the 
mote  in  a  brother's  eye,  while  blinded  to  the  beam  in  their  own  ? 

There  is  a  very  interesting  description  given  in  the  Epistle  of 
.fames,  of  two  opposite  kinds  of  wisdom.  The  first  is  represented 
as  coming  "  from  above,"  the  last  as  "  coming  not  from  above," 
but  as  being  ectrthly,  .sensual,  deviliih.  That  is  first  pure, 
Ihen  peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to  be  intrcated,  full  of  mercy 
and  good  fndts,  without  partiality,  and  without  hypocrisy  :  this 
works  "  bitter  zeal  and  strife  in  the  heart."  The  fruit  of 
righteousness  is  sown  in  peace,  and  in  making  peace,  by  the  one  : 
but  by  the  other  is  {produced  confusion,  and  every  evil  work. 
Yet  these  last  are  supposed  to  ''  glory  ;"  but  in  glorying  they  lie 
against  the  truth.  Without  wishing  to  ascribe  either  to  bodies  of 
•people  indiscriminately,  there  is  enougli  said  to  enable  us  to  form 
H  judgment  of  things  by  the  effect?  which  they  prnfliicp. 


I.KTJKR  XII.]  OF   rHK  SYSTKM.  501 

To  conclude, — It  is  no  part  of  my  desi^jn  to  vindicate  or  apolo- 
gize for  the  errors  of  other  denominations.  The  Christian  cluirch 
is  not  what  it  was  at  the  beginning;  an(l  tlioiigh  every  body  of 
Christians  are  not  equally  corrupt,  yet  none  is  so  pure,  but  that,  if 
its  character  were  reported  by  the  j;reat  Head  of  the  church,  he 
would  have  "  somewhat  against"  it.  But  whatever  errors  or 
evils  m.iy  be  found  in  any  of  us,  it  is  not  this  species  of  reform, 
even  if  it  were  universally  to  prevail,  that  would  correct  them. 
On  the  nmtrary,  if  we  may  judge  from  its  effects  during  the  last 
rifty  years,  it  would  lead  the  Christian  world,  if  not  to  downright 
Infidelity,  yet  to  something  that  comes  but  very  little  short  it. 
I  am 

Your  aflcctionate 

Friend  and  Brother, 

.ANDREW  FULLER. 


KM)  OF    rUK  THIRD  V'OhUMl. 


JUL   6  -    1938